WASHINGTON: United States Central Command (Centcom) Chief General Michael Kurilla has lauded Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in global counterterrorism efforts, highlighting its successful operations against Daesh-Khorasan and the ongoing fight against terrorism.
“Through a phenomenal partnership, Pakistan has gone after Daesh-Khorasan, killing dozens of them... through a relationship we have with them and providing intelligence, they have captured at least five ISIS Khorasan high-value individuals,” he said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington.
During the congressional hearing, General Kurilla was questioned about the security situation along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. “... right now what we saw is the Taliban are going after Daesh-K... they hate each other, pushed a lot of them into the tribal areas on the Afghan-Pakistan border through a phenomenal partnership with Pakistan,” he said. “They [Pakistan] have extradited Jaffar, who was one of the key individuals behind the Abbey Gate bombing,” he added, referring to Daesh operative Mohammad Sharifullah, an Afghan national who was arrested by Pakistan earlier this year.
The Daesh operative allegedly helped carry out the 2021 suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport during the chaotic US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Furthermore, the Centcom chief said, he received a call from Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir after Sharifullah’s arrest, saying: “I’ve caught him, I’m willing to extradite him back to the United States, please tell the secretary of defense and the president.”
“We’re seeing Pakistan - with limited intelligence that we provided them - go after them using their means to do that and we’re seeing an effect on Daesh Khorasan,” he added.
Gen Kurilla said there have been 1,000 terrorist attacks in “the western area” of Pakistan since the start of 2024, noting that the country was “in an active counterterrorism fight right now”. “They have been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world,” he said and concluded by saying that the US needed to maintain ties with both Pakistan and India. “I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can’t have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India. We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has,” he said.
Separately, the US State Department has expressed the hope that President Donald Trump will help resolve the longstanding Kashmir dispute during his tenure in office.
Questions were submitted to the State Department by Geo correspondent, asking about the recent engagement between Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, and a Pakistani parliamentary delegation, led by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Specifically, queries were raised about whether the US had assured the Pakistani side of using its good offices to bring India to the negotiating table so that all outstanding issues could be discussed and the ceasefire sustained.
Responding to questions, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated, “State Department officials, including Under Secretary for Political Affairs Hooker, met the Pakistani parliamentary delegation during a visit they had to Washington last week. She reiterated US support for the ongoing ceasefire — as you might imagine, thank God — between Pakistan and India. They also discussed important issues to the bilateral relationship, including counterterrorism cooperation.”
“We also know that Deputy Secretary Landau met with the Indian parliamentary delegation last week, and he also reaffirmed the United States’ strong support of India in the fight against terrorism, and strategic partnership between those two countries,” Bruce added.
When asked about any follow-up on Trump’s offer — such as whether he might host the prime ministers of both countries or support a UN Security Council resolution — Bruce said she could not comment on the president’s plans.
However, she emphasized that President Trump’s actions are always aimed at resolving long-standing global conflicts. “So it doesn’t — it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he’d want to manage something like that. He seems very much to be — and not just seems but he is — has been the only one to bring certain people to the table to have conversations that nobody thought was possible,” Bruce remarked.
“So, while I can’t speak to his plans, the world knows his nature, and I can’t speak to any details of what he might have in that regard... But it is an exciting time that if we can get to a point in that particular conflict, thank God but also thank Secretary Rubio and President Trump and the vice president. It is — it’s a very interesting time. And so it’s — every day brings something new, and I hope perhaps something like that can also get resolved before the President,” Bruce concluded.