The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that its commander, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, visited several locations in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
During his visit, Kurilla met with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Syed Asim Munir, and other officials from the Pakistan Armed Forces.
According to the statement, their discussions centered around counterterrorism efforts and the ongoing military partnership between the Pakistani and U.S. armed forces.
The statement also noted that Gen. Kurilla met with leaders from Pakistan’s 11th Corps, Frontier Corps, and 7th Division to discuss counterterrorism operations along the border during his time in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
This visit coincides with criticisms from Sher Afzal Marwat, a member of the Pakistan National Assembly, who recently criticized the Pakistani government’s foreign policy.
Marwat revealed that the government provided two Air Force bases for U.S. use in Balochistan province, near the borders with Iran and Afghanistan.
In recent months, U.S. drones have been observed in the skies over various provinces in Afghanistan.
This marks the first action by a senior U.S. military official in the past three years, coinciding with growing concerns about the activities of ISIS and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
Additionally, Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Taliban to take action against members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan claims that TTP has been launching attacks from Afghan soil against Pakistan.
