KABUL (Pajhwok): Hailing the arrest of five suspected terrorists by Afghan security forces, Washington has urged Islamabad and Kabul to step up counter-terrorism cooperation.
Last week, Afghan security personnel five individuals for their complicity in the Dec 16 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. Hundreds of students were killed and wounded in the assault claimed by Pakistan.
Afghan officials said the detainees would be questioned in Afghanistan before they were extradited to Pakistan. The arrests were made after Pakistan provided information to the Afghan government.
State Department’s deputy spokesperson Marie Harf told a news conference in Washington on Saturday: “We want to see these kinds of people who have plotted and planned terrorist attacks brought to reporters.”
While stressing the need for joint efforts against terrorists by Kabul and Islamabad, she said: “How that happens, we’ll see. But certainly, we believe it’s important.”
Asked if the United States supported Pakistan’s demand for handing over TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah to Islamabad, Harf replied: “This is actually a topic that came up during the secretary’s meeting in Pakistan.”
The United States has already designated Fazlullah a global terrorist and would cooperate with Pakistan in bringing him and other terrorists to justice, the spokeswoman said.
PAN Monitor/mud
