United States Central Command Chief (Centcom) General Michael Chiarella has called Pakistan an exceptional partner in counterterrorism operations. He particularly appreciated the efforts of Pakistan in countering ISIS-Khorasan.
He described a partnership with Pakistan as crucial in regional security operations. Kurilla passed these statements during the House Armed Services Committee meeting on Tuesday. Kurilla described ISIS-K as “one of the most active groups attempting external plots globally, including against the US homeland.”
The chief informed that the hostilities between ISSK and the Afghan Taliban have intensified in Afghanistan. These fights have forced many fighters into the tribal areas along the path of one border.
Centcome Chief termed the partnership with Pakistan as exceptional and phenomenal. He said that with the limited intelligence support from the United States, Pakistan managed to kill dozens of ISIS-K militants and capture five high-value individuals.
He said Pakistan has apprehended a key suspect in the 2021 Abbey Gate bombings at Kabul Airport.
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“The Chief of Army Staff called me directly and said, ‘I’ve caught him. I’m willing to extradite him back to the United States. Please inform the Secretary of Defense and the President,’” Kurilla told the committee.
“They are mostly confined to the border areas of Pakistan, occasionally attempting to re-enter Afghanistan,” he said, adding that the United States continues to monitor the group’s movements.
Speaking before a joint session of Congress in March, he said: “I want to thank, especially, the Pakistani government for helping arrest this monster,” referring to Jafar’s capture.
“I would also tell you that since 2024 beginning Pakistan has had over 1000 terrorist attacks in the western area, killing hundreds of security personnel and civilians. They’re on an active counter-terrorism fight right now. They’ve been a phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism world,” he added.
Kurilla also stressed for balanced strategic relationships with both India and Pakistan. “We have to have relationships with Pakistan and with India. I don’t believe it’s a binary switch that we can’t have one with Pakistan if we have one with India. We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has,” he said.