US defence secretary speaks with Pak Army chief amidst spike in terror attacks in Pakistan

Washington/Islamabad: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Pakistan Army chief Gen Asim Munir and discussed "areas of mutual interest and recent regional developments," amidst a spike in terror attacks in Pakistan.

In Washington, the US Department of Defence said Secretary of Defence Austin spoke by phone with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Munir on Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon Press Secretary, confirmed the telephonic conversation between the top officials and said, “They discussed areas of mutual interest and recent regional developments.” This is the second time that Gen Munir and the US secretary have spoken on the phone. The last time they spoke was in January of this year, when the US defence secretary had called Gen Munir to congratulate him on taking charge as the army chief, Geo News reported.

The Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistani military, has not made a statement regarding the call yet, Dawn News reported.

But, neither Washington nor Islamabad has revealed the details about the topics discussed.

The Dawn report recalled how the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West had recently identified the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as the greatest threat to regional stability.

The telephone conversation between Austin and Munir, therefore, assumes significance. According to Dawn, there has been “an uptick in terror activities in Pakistan, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the Pakistan government in November last year.” Dawn also quoted a report released in July by the think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies that said the first half of the current year witnessed a steady and alarming rise in terror and suicide attacks, claiming the lives of 389 people across the country.

Pakistani authorities have blamed Afghanistan for allowing militants to use its soil, with interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti saying that 14 of 24 suicide bombings in the country this year were carried out by Afghan nationals.

Earlier on Monday, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller offered to work with Pakistan on strategies that can better assist the country’s efforts to counter all forms of violent extremism.

Some Pakistani media houses linked the phone call with the illegal immigration issue. Pakistan has maintained that a majority of the illegal foreign nationals in Pakistan are Afghan nationals and also that the TTP cadre draws from that lot.

“The announcement about the call came shortly after Pakistan set a deadline to expel all illegal foreign nationals in the country,” Aaj English, a TV channel, website said.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Bugti on Tuesday announced a November 1 deadline for thousands of illegal immigrants to leave the country or face deportation as the government intensified its crackdown against those involved in militancy and smuggling. Bugti made the announcement after a high-level meeting of the Apex Committee chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and attended by Army Chief General Asim Munir among others.

According to Bugti, currently, 1.73 million unregistered illegal Afghans are living in Pakistan. Another around 1.3 million Afghans are registered refugees and another 8,80,000 have legal status to remain in Pakistan, according to the United Nations data.