ISLAMABAD: A 7-member high level Afghan military delegation headed by Afghan Chief of General Staff General Mohammad Habib Hesary arrived in Islamabad on Thursday for talks with Pakistan Army regarding anti-terror cooperation and border management, the Afghan embassy officials said.
The delegation also includes high ranking officials from Afghanistan Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the intelligence National Directorate of Security (NDS), according to the embassy.
The formal talks are set for December 1 at a time when the relations between the two countries are believed to be under pressure in view of the continuation of war in Afghanistan and the attacks on Pakistani border posts. Pakistan has also alleged that militants who carry out attacks in Pakistan operate from Afghan side of the border.
At least five Pakistani security personnel lost their lives in a series of attacks over the past two months on the border posts in Rajgal Valley in Khyber and Bajaur tribal region by militants allegedly operating from the Afghan side.
The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and it splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Pakistan will press for its longstanding demand for border management by the Afghan security forces and foreign invading troops. Pakistani forces are engaged in border fencing to stop the illegal cross-border movement and are asking the Afghan forces to take similar steps to secure the porous border.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, had been saying that its armed opponents operate from Pakistani soil.
Afghan Chief of General Staff Mohammad Sharif Yaftali said in Kabul earlier this month that the Afghan military officials would take up the issue of the “rocket firing into Afghanistan” from the Pakistani side. He said that Kabul will pursue a diplomatic solution for cross-border shelling.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal had denied artillery shelling into Afghanistan and had told the media this month that the army “does not fire unless it is attacked” from Afghan areas, which are out of the control of the Afghan government and were used for attacks on Pakistan.
