Monitoring Desk: US Central Command Chief Gen. Michael Kurilla lauded the role of Pakistan against terrorism.
He said:
“Pakistan has been a phenomenal counter-terrorism partner for America. “They have captured at least 5 high-value IS-K individuals”.
During his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Kurilla highlighted the role of the Pakistani military and army chief, Field Marshal Gen Asim Munir, in combating ISIS-Khorasan, another name for IS-KP.
Kurilla noted that ISIS-K, based in Afghanistan, is one of the most active terrorist groups involved in “external plots globally”, including against the US homeland. The Afghan Taliban have gone after the ISIS-K and pushed a lot of the group’s fighters into tribal areas on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, he said.
“Through a phenomenal partnership with Pakistan, they have gone after ISIS-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,” Kurilla said.
Kurilla said Pakistan extradited Mohammad Sharifullah alias Jafar, one of the key individuals behind a suicide attack at Kabul airport in August 2021 that killed 13 American military personnel during the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
Kurilla described Pakistan as “a phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism world” and said Islamabad was going after the ISIS-Khorasan with “limited intelligence” that the US is providing. He also noted that Pakistan has witnessed some 1,000 terrorist attacks since the start of 2024, which killed about 700 security personnel and 2,500 civilians.
The remarks by the head of the US Central Command, Gen Michael E Kurilla, during a hearing by the House Armed Services Committee come at a time when India, while being involved in cross-border terrorism in Balochistan and KP, is accusing Pakistan of the Pahalgam terror attack.
