Threat from India-managed actors in Afghanistan: Pak military commanders

Pakistan’s top military commanders say the terrorist threat in the country was because of the growing nexus of hostile actors in Afghanistan, managed by India, and “facilitators” within Pakistan.

Pakistan’s top military commanders say the terrorist threat in the country was because of the growing nexus of hostile actors in Afghanistan, managed by India, and “facilitators” within Pakistan.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, right, at a hospital in Quetta, after dozens ever killed in a bomb blast on Monday. (AP)

At a conference attended by the Pakistani army chief, General Raheel Sharif, the commanders said the threat was emanating from Afghan soil, which was being managed by Indian intelligence agencies, Dawn online reported.

However, at the same time there was an acknowledgment that a network of “facilitators” within the country provided an enabling environment for the external enemy, an Inter-Service Public Relations statement said.

At a corps commanders’ conference held at the General Headquarters on Tuesday, the generals reviewed the threat perception and discussed measures for countering the imminent security challenges.

The meeting, a monthly feature, was significant because of Monday’s terror attack on a Quetta hospital that left at least 70 people dead. An upcoming high-level security meeting is expected to take important decisions with regards to future direction of counterterrorism operations, the statement said.

Gen Sharif told his commanders that the Quetta attack was an attempt to undermine the successes of operation Zarb-e-Azb — a joint military offensive against various militant groups — which was in its final phase.