Summary Kabul has been urged to cooperate with Pakistani authorities to bring the penetrators to justice
Dunya News Report (Jibran Dost)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday expressed its concerns to Afghanistan about the utilization of their land by certain terrorists and required Afghan government’s action against the perpetrators of January 20th attack on Bacha Khan University Charsadda.
The Afghan Charge d’Affaries, Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi was summoned to Foreign Office on Tuesday to convey Pakistan’s concern about the use of their soil by terrorists in the recent attack.
“He (Afghan charge d’affaires) was told that investigations have revealed that handlers of this terrorist act were operating from the Afghan territory and used Afghan telecommunication network for planning and executing this attack. In this regard, the relevant details have already been shared with the Afghan side,” said the Foreign Ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah.
“Kabul has been urged to cooperate with Pakistani authorities to bring the penetrators to justice,” Qazi Khalilullah further added.
Earlier, a day after the attack, General Raheel Sharif called Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah and Commander Resolute Special Mission in Afghanistan General John Campbell to share information and communicate that investigations indicated that the Charsadda attack was controlled from Afghanistan by a Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) operative.
The army, however, ensured that Pakistan was not blaming the Afghan government for being part of the assault.
In response, Afghanistan rejected allegations coming from Pakistan and refused the claim of ISPR Director General Asim Bajwa stating that all four terrorists came from Afghanistan and the attack was planned and controlled from Pakistan.
“Qari Zakir, a deputy commander of Omar Mansoor, brought them to the Torkham border near Pakistan. They crossed the border and entered Pakistan. One facilitator, Adil, received them at the border and brought them to Peshawar via public transport,” Gen Bajwa stated at a media briefing.
On the other hand, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) disagree to the statement that the terrorists who carried out the attack were using Afghan SIMs. PTA officials stated that the attackers were either issued SIMs by Pakistani cellular companies or they were using a satellite phone as it is not possible to use Afghan SIMs in Charsadda.
“It is 100 percent confirmed and has been re-verified that roaming Afghan SIMs in Pakistan areas are not possible as tower-sharing agreements of Afghan cellular companies with Pakistani cellular companies were ‘effectively terminated’ around one year ago,” an official had said.
Earlier last week, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt General Asim Bajwa expressed that major advancements had been made in identifying the terrorists who carried out an attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda.
General Bajwa claimed that the terrorists who carried out the attack were getting information from outside and were receiving calls from outside. Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) are carried out to track down the terrorists involved in the attack.
The ISPR Chief said that SIM cards and two mobile phones were recovered from the terrorists, which were traced and analyzed. “Their call logs were analysed and an intelligence picture was established, with most data having been collected,” said Gen Bajwa.
Furthermore, forensics and fingerprints were shared with NADRA to obtain a much clearer picture regarding the identity of the terrorists. “An intelligence picture is also being created with input from NADRA,” he stated.
