Ex-COAS Sharif says complex border issues hurdle in defeating Taliban

DAVOS: Former Chief of Army Staff General (retd) Raheel Sharif on Tuesday said that complex border issues were a hurdle in defeating Taliban.

Speaking during World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos on the subject ‘Terrorism in Digital Age’, he said that there were groups which were present in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Gen (retd) Raheel Sharif — who spearheaded a counter-insurgency campaign at home— said that when action against these groups is taken in Afghanistan, they come to Pakistan and when action against them is taken in Pakistan they move to Afghanistan.

He said that the presence of Afghan refugees in Pakistan was also an issue in defeating terrorism, adding that the future of Pakistan and Afghanistan was interlinked.

Ex-COAS said that the terrorist attacks in Pakistan were cut down from 150 per month to one.

He said that all countries would have to share intelligence report with each other in order to defeat terrorism.

Former COAS further said that after the attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, the entire nation united against the terrorists.

The theme for the 2017 WEF Annual Meeting is "Responsive and Responsible Leadership".