Afghanistan lists 32 terrorist centers in Pakistan

By Shadi Khan Saif and Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan/KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - In a clear response to a recent move by Pakistan, the Afghan government on Monday handed over to Islamabad a list of 32 terrorist training centers and 85 top militants allegedly based in Pakistan.

Relations between the two Muslim nations are at an all-time low following a string of terrorist attacks in Pakistan last week that claimed close to 100 lives, and were staged by militants allegedly hiding in Afghanistan.

Frontier crossings between the two neighbors have been closed since Thursday amid on-and-off cross-border shelling and the security forces being on high alert.

In a statement released on Monday, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the intelligence list had been handed to the Pakistani envoy, and actions against the targets sought.

Details were not shared with the media.

According to the ministry, the reaction from the Pakistani diplomats this morning was “positive”.

Underlining the need for cooperation between the two countries, Afghanistan warned it would use international platforms, mainly the UN to protect its citizens against terrorists and their backers.

-Cooperation call

A day after a brazen militant attack on a Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan which claimed more than 80 lives, Pakistan handed over a similar list to Kabul of some 76 militants allegedly based in Afghanistan.

Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive officer of the Kabul government, on Monday said Pakistan and Afghanistan had no choice but to work together against terrorism.

“The basic way to resolve the issue is cooperation, and honest cooperation. Using the means of intimidation would yield no results; it would divert [both Pakistan and Afghanistan] away from the real track,” he told journalists before a cabinet meeting in Kabul.

Pakistan’s powerful army chief on Monday also welcomed “recent proposals from Afghan authorities to take forward the mutual coordination for result-oriented efforts against terrorism”.

Army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa -- who chaired a high-level security meeting at army headquarters -- said Pakistan and Afghanistan “have fought against terrorism and shall continue this effort together”, a statement from the Pakistan military read.

The general also called for more effective frontier coordination and cooperation with the Afghan security forces to prevent the cross-border movement of terrorists, including all types of illegal crossings.