Washington: The US has had constructive discussions in the military intelligence and diplomatic channels with Pakistan on terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and the Afghan peace process, the White House has said.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also said that the peace process would be an important issue in the upcoming NATO meeting next week.
“We have only had constructive discussions in the military intelligence and diplomatic channels with Pakistan about the future of America’s capabilities to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a base from which Al Qaeda or ISIS or any other terrorist group can attack the United States,” he told a White House news conference.
Sullivan was responding to a question on talks with Pakistan on the Afghan peace process, which would be an important topic of discussion at the NATO summit.
However, he refrained from giving specifics oN the discussions with Pakistan.
“In terms of the specifics of what that will look that will have to remain in those private channels as we work through them. What I will say that we are talking to a wide range of countries about how we build effective over the horizon capability both from an intelligence and from a defense perspective to be able to suppress terrorism threat in Afghanistan on a going-forward basis,” Sullivan said.
‘Al-Qaeda chief somewhere between Afghanistan, Pakistan’
Kabul: A significant part of the Al-Qaeda leadership resides in Afghanistan and Pakistan region, including the group’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is “probably alive but too frail to be featured in propaganda,” according to a United Nations report.
The findings on the status of Taliban-controlled and contested districts were presented last week by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team.
The group’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is believed to be located somewhere in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Previous reports of his death due to ill health have not been confirmed. “One Member State reports that he is probably alive but too frail to be featured in propaganda.”
