Pakistan conducts operation after Afghan university attack

Pakistani security forces on Thursday launched combing operations after an attack on American University in Kabul, in which 12 people were killed, based on mobile phone numbers that were used during the attack.

Pakistan Army Chief, General Raheel Sharif, told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani through telephone that "Pakistani soil would not be allowed to be used for any type of terrorism in Afghanistan."

According to the army's information wing, Raheel Sharif condemned terrorists' attack on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul and expressed his sympathies with the bereaved families, Xinhua reported.

He said Afghan authorities have shared three mobile telephone numbers allegedly used during the university attack who were on contact with the attackers.

"It may be mentioned here that based on these three Afghan cell numbers provided by Afghan authorities, Pakistan Army carried out a combing operation in suspected area closer to Pak-Afghan border to verify presence of miscreants," Raheel Sharif informed Ghani.

He told the Afghan leader that the outcome of the operation so far has been shared with Afghan authorities, adding further technical evaluation of the cellphone numbers, all Afghan, is being carried out.

For his part, Ghani called for "serious and practical measures against the terrorists," according to the president's office, while the Pakistan army chief assured Ghani of all-out cooperation on availability of further information from Afghanistan.

--IANS

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