Pakistan Army took up the matter of co-ordination with International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) during a meeting between General John Campbell, Commander ISAF and Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif, here at General Headquarters on Monday. According to ISPR, this is General John F Campbell's first visit to the General Headquarters after assuming command of the ISAF from General Joseph F Dunford Jr of the US Marine Corps on August 26, 2014.
During the meeting, the matters of mutual interest were discussed including the progress of ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb, latest situation in Afghanistan and co-ordination along Pak-Afghan border. Military operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched by the Pakistan Army on June 15 following a brazen militant attack on Karachi's international airport and failure of peace talks between the government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
In a recent briefing, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Asim Bajwa, affirmed that security had been reinforced along the border with Afghanistan before the launch of military operation. He said that Pakistan on diplomatic and military level launched protests and asked the Afghan government to cooperate with them. In July, the Foreign Office urged Afghanistan to take effective steps to stop the use of its territory for repeated cross-border firing and attacks by terrorists. The Foreign Office statement said the country emphasised on the extension of all possible co-operation from the Afghan side and measures taken by Afghanistan to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries on its territory, at a time when Pakistan was undertaking a monumental effort against terrorists and their hideouts through the launch of operation Zarb-e-Azb. But cooperation has been missing by Afghanistan government.