US NSA conveys President Trump\u2019s appreciation, thanks Pakistan govt for efforts in countering terrorism, says FO
\n Islamabad
\nPakistan is seeking broad-based and longstanding ties with the United States under President Donald Trump\u2019s administration, said Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in a telephonic conversation with a top US official.
\nA statement issued by the Foreign Office on Wednesday said Deputy PM Dar received a call from the US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz on March 4 (Tuesday) wherein he conveyed President Trump\u2019s appreciation and thanked the Pakistan government for efforts in countering terrorism.
\nThe FO statement came hours after President Trump announced that the Daesh operative who allegedly planned the 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport during the chaotic US military withdrawal had been arrested.
\nThe bomber detonated a device among packed crowds as they tried to flee Afghanistan, killing 170 Afghans and 13 US troops securing the perimeter, days after the Taliban seized control of the capital.
\nIn his first address to Congress since returning to the White House, Trump announced on Tuesday that Pakistan had assisted in the arrest of \u201cthe top terrorist responsible for that atrocity\u201d.
\nThe FO, in the statement, said FM Dar congratulated the NSA on his assumption of office and reiterated that Pakistan looked forward to building on its longstanding and broad-based relationship with the United States under President Trump and his administration.
\nHe also reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s commitment to continue its cooperation with the US in the field of counterterrorism.
\nDar also appreciated President Trump\u2019s announcement to withdraw the US military equipment left behind in Afghanistan.
\nThe two sides reaffirmed their commitment to enhance cooperation in IT, energy and mineral sectors, as per the statement.
\n\u201cThey also agreed on the need to have continued dialogues on trade, investment, climate change and health as part of a broad-based agenda in the days to come,\u201d it added.
\nWho is Mohammad Sharifullah?
\nMohammad Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, Sharifullah, is a leader of the Daesh Khorasan branch in Afghanistan.
\nThe US has charged him with \u201cproviding and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organisation resulting in death.\u201d
\nThe Justice Department said on Wednesday the operative admitted to FBI Special Agents \u201cto helping prepare\u201d for the attack, \u201cincluding scouting a route near the airport for an attacker.\u201d
\n\u201cThis evil ISIS-K terrorist orchestrated the brutal murder of 13 heroic Marines,\u201d Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
\nSharifullah also admitted to involvement in several other attacks, the Justice Department said, including the March 2024 Moscow Crocus City Hall attack in which he said \u201che had shared instructions on how to use AK-style rifles and other weapons to would-be attackers.\u201d
\nIn Tuesday\u00b4s speech, Trump took a swipe at his predecessor Joe Biden\u2019s oversight of the \u201cdisastrous and incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan\u201d and thanked Pakistan \u201cfor helping arrest this monster\u201d.
\nThe United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, ending a chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans who had rushed to Kabul\u2019s airport in the hope of boarding a flight out of the country.
\nImages of crowds storming the airport, climbing atop aircraft \u2014 and some clinging to a departing US military cargo plane as it rolled down the runway \u2014 aired on news bulletins around the world.
\nIn April 2023, the White House announced that a Daesh official involved in plotting the attack at the airport\u00b4s Abbey Gate had been killed in an operation by Afghanistan\u00b4s new Taliban government.
\n\u2018Leverage US concerns\u2019
\nPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for \u201cacknowledging and appreciating Pakistan\u2019s role and support\u201d in counter-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan.
\n\u201cWe will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,\u201d he wrote on social media platform X.
\nPakistan\u2019s strategic importance has waned since the US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has seen violence rebound in the border regions.
\nTensions between the neighboring countries have soared, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil who launch attacks on Pakistan.
\nDaesh Kabul chapter, which has claimed several recent attacks in Afghanistan, has staged a growing number of bloody international assaults, including killing more than 90 in an Iranian bombing last year.
\nMichael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at The Wilson Center, said on X that Pakistan was trying to \u201cleverage US concerns about terror in Afghanistan and pitch a renewed security partnership.\u201d
\n\u201cPakistan\u2019s help catching the Abbey Gate attack plotter should be seen in this context,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US NSA conveys President Trump\u2019s appreciation, thanks Pakistan govt for efforts in countering terrorism, says FO Islamabad Pakistan is seeking broad-based and longstanding ties with the United States under President Donald Trump\u2019s administration, said Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in a telephonic conversation with a top US official. A statement issued by the Foreign Office on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-465352","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n