Afghanistan Times
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AT-KABUL: The National Directorate of Security (NDS), the premier national spy agency, on Monday denied training of its agents by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Reacting to the news reports that ISI has offered to train and equip the NDS agents, spokesman to Afghan spy agency, Haseeb Siddiqi, said that nothing of this sort has been said in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Kabul and Islamabad regarding intelligence support.
It is said that the MoU was signed during the recent trip of Pakistan’s Prime Minister to Kabul. Leading a high-level delegation, Nawaz Sharif arrived on May 12, and discussed nature and scope of intelligence sharing and coordinated operations against insurgents.
Sidiqqi said the MoU focuses only on intelligence sharing to counter terrorism and other common threats.
He said that such MoUs were signed between the two neighboring countries from 2006 to 2009, but were not helpful due to limitation of cooperation.
“The new memorandum identifies common threats, and scope of cooperation on joint counter-terrorism efforts is clear. All terror groups including Daesh and the Taliban will be treated as common enemies,” the spokesman said.
The two spy agencies would establish special task groups for coordination. They would share information on immediate basis if need urged, Siddiqi said. He hoped that Islamabad would sincerely cooperate with Kabul in the war against terror.
He said the NDS is ready to defend the country and stand against any threat. The spokesman told media that NDS personnel are well-trained and equipped.
