KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The US Central Command (CENTCOM) Chief, General Michael Erik Kurilla, has visited Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas in Pakistan’s Khyber PakhtunKhwa province, discussing counter-terrorism operations with the Pakistani military.
CENTCOM announced on Thursday, May 9, that the senior US general, during his visit to Pakistan, met with General Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, and other senior generals to discuss counter-terrorism efforts and military partnership between the two countries.
As stated in a statement released by Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), both generals also discussed cooperation in regional security matters and joint military training, emphasizing the necessity to enhance training interactions between CENTCOM and the Pakistan army.
“The visiting dignitary acknowledged and appreciated Pakistan Army’s successes in the fight against terrorism and Pakistan’s continued efforts for bringing peace and stability in the region,” reads the Pakistani army statement.
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has intensified security concerns within the region and the global community. These concerns are rooted in the potential resurgence of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS-K, and TTP, all of which pose a significant threat to regional and global stability.
The Taliban claims to have suppressed IS-KP in Afghanistan and assures that the country poses no threat, yet reports, including from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), suggest their inability to prevent terrorist attacks beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
“The longer the Taliban government controls Afghanistan the more Salafi-jihadi groups will strengthen themselves by embedding themselves into local Afghan communities,” the Washington-based think tank said in its report released in March.
Earlier, the CENTCOM chief criticized the Taliban for harboring extremist groups in Afghanistan, warning that the presence and growing capabilities of these groups could destabilize Central and South Asian countries.
In his assessment shared with the US Senate Arms Services Committee, the senior US general highlighted that extremist groups “exploit Afghanistan’s poor economic conditions and lax governance to recruit, train, and sustain an expanding cadre of fighters.”
Pakistan accuses the Taliban of harboring and arming members of Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group responsible for dozens of deadly attacks in Pakistan, to launch cross-border attacks. The country has consistently demanded the regime in Kabul to take decisive actions against the militant group and surrender them to Islamabad.
The CENTCOM chief, in his assessment, also criticized the Taliban’s approach towards the TTP, saying that the regime has shown little interest in addressing the militant group, despite its significant threat to Pakistan.
“The Taliban has shown little interest in applying counter-terrorism pressure against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), presenting a significant threat to stability in Pakistan’s border regions,” General Kurilla said. “We do not expect that dynamic to change,” he added.
