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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: As Kabul and Islamabad recently made commitments to join hands in war on terror and eliminating insurgents from the two countries, a delegation comprised of senior security officials traveled to Pakistan to discuss security in both sides of the Durand Line, said officials on Monday.
Zaluddin Ayar, the commander of border police in east, told newsmen that the trip was based on invitation by Pakistani security officials which is aimed at discussing joint war on terror and as well as improving security in both sides of the Durand Line.
According to Ayar, the security officials landed in Rawalpindi city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.
He said delegation is comprised of security officials from eastern and southeastern zones, led by General Shafique Fazli, the general commander of border police.
Following an attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistani security officials said they have changed their policy towards insurgents. Islamabad announced a number of security measures and military operation against militants following the attack.
The border police commander said that recently a Pakistani delegation visited Jalalabad city and met with Afghan security officials aimed at improving cooperation in counterterrorism efforts.
He said the delegation invited the Afghan border police to visit Pakistan.
In the meantime, the Interior Ministry spokesman termed the Afghan delegation’s visit to Pakistan as fruitful and said it was part of the government’s efforts to beef up security in the country.
“The struggles with no doubt are very useful and can result in improvement of ties between security agencies of the two countries, particularly for Afghanistan as security of our country has always been under threat from the other side of the Durand Line. Hope the day that we overcome threats from other side of the line,” said Siddiq Siddiqi, the Interior Ministry spokesman, as quoted by Radio Azadi.
A number of Afghan analysts said they doubt on sincerity of Pakistan in war on terror or whether the Pakistani army target militants’ safe havens during their new military operations or not.
“The talks with Pakistani security officials can yield targeted results if the Afghan delegation discusses the related issues in a serious and strict way. They should come up with new plans and measures to eliminate terrorists from both sides of the Durand Line,” said Samim Rahpaya, an Afghan analyst.
He added that Pakistani military should target the safe havens of terrorists, not the civilians’ houses on other side of the line.
Recently, the former president Hamid Karzai in an interview with BBC Pashto Service urged Pakistan to stop using terrorism as a tool of policy, and suggested Islamabad to target terrorists’ nests during military operations, not bazaars in Miranshah or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
