COAS Sharif phones Afghan president, condemns university attack

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Thursday had a telephone conversation with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

During the conversation, Army Chief strongly condemned terrorists’ attack on American University of Afghanistan in Kabul yesterday and offered his condolences to the bereaved families, the ISPR statement said.

According to the ISPR, the Army Chief said that Pakistani soil would not be allowed to be used for any type of terrorism in Afghanistan.

"Afghan authorities have shared 3 mobile telephone numbers allegedly used during the University attack who allegedly were on contact with the attackers. It may be mentioned here that based on these 3 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," the statement read.

"Our evaluation of the evidence provided and outcome of the combing operation so far, has shown that all Afghan SIMs used during the attack were from a network owned and operated by an Afghan company, whose spillover signal affects some areas along the Pak-Afghan border.

The statement said that the outcome of the operation so far has been shared with the Afghan authorities. The ISPR said that further technical evaluation of those mobile numbers is underway. 

"COAS assured Afghan President of all out cooperation on availability of further information from Afghans," the statement mentioned.

Sixteen people were killed after militants had stormed the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul yesterday. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the assault.