ASIA PACIFIC

In a Shift, Pakistan Pats Afghanistan on the Back

By SALMAN MASOOD
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In a sign of closer cooperation between often hostile neighbors, Pakistan’s military on Thursday credited Afghanistan with helping to capture the Taliban militants who orchestrated the attack on a Peshawar school in December that killed 150 people.
Maj. Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, the Pakistani Army spokesman, told reporters that the Afghan security forces had captured six militants who had been linked to the attack. Afghanistan has also stepped up intelligence and military cooperation along the countries’ mutual border, he said.
The public acknowledgment contrasted sharply with the antagonistic relationship between the countries only last year, when Afghan officials accused Pakistan of cross-border shelling that killed Afghan civilians, and Pakistanis accused the Afghans of sheltering Taliban fugitives.
But relations have visibly warmed since September under the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, and the reconciliation has been encouraged by the United States and other major powers in the region.
Last week, six Afghan Army cadets arrived in Pakistan for a training course at Pakistan’s main military academy. And in Islamabad on Thursday, the visiting Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, publicly offered China’s help in mediating between the Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul — a gesture clearly made with Pakistani support.
Still, previous periods of decreased tension between the two countries have ended abruptly, and this one might be no different. Pakistan is still seeking the capture of six Taliban fugitives linked to the Peshawar attack — including the movement’s leader, Maulana Fazlullah — who are believed to be hiding in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
General Bajwa made the comments about Afghanistan at a briefing in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, during which he provided a detailed account of the planning and execution of the Peshawar attack.
He said that the army had taken 12 people into custody in the attack, which involved 27 people and was led by a commander known as Hajji Kamran. Before the assault, the attackers based themselves in the Khyber tribal district, on the edge of Peshawar, before dividing into two groups that hid at a mosque and a house in Peshawar on the eve of the attack, the general said.
The military has since arrested a cleric associated with the Taliban cell, and is offering a $25,000 reward for the capture of Hazrat Ali, another militant.
But, he added, the assault had been masterminded by the Taliban leader, Mr. Fazlullah, from his base in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has renewed its requests for Afghan assistance in capturing him.
“He is a known terrorist. His capture and handover to Pakistan are being discussed with the Afghan leadership,” General Bajwa said. “We are hopeful that we will hear a quick response from them in this regard.”
Declan Walsh contributed reporting from London.