Islamabad definitely deserves due appreciation for facilitating apprehension of Mohammad Sharifullah, a terrorist commander belonging to the UN proscribed Islamic State Khorasan Province [ISKP] terrorist group who was involved in the deadly August 2021 bombing at Kabul airport that killed nearly 200 people including 13 American soldiers. According to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s post on X, the “ISKP’s top tier Sharifullah commander” was apprehended by “Pakistan Security Forces… in a successful operation conducted in [the] Pakistan-Afghan border region.” 

And, US President Donald Trump did exactly this while announcing Sarifullah’s arrest in his speech to Congress on Tuesday night by thanking the Government of Pakistan “for helping arrest this monster.” Basking in the adulation heaped by the mercurial POTUS, Sharif deftly portrayed this isolated incident based expression of gratitude as comprehensive acknowledgement and appreciation of “Pakistan’s role and support in counter terrorism efforts across the region, in the context of Pakistan Security Forces.” 

Not only this, he also went on to claim that “Pakistan has always played a critical role in counter terrorism efforts aimed at denying safe havens to terrorists and militant groups the space to operate against any other country.” Unfortunately, this claim doesn’t stand up to impartial scrutiny. For one, if arrest of ISKP terrorist Sarifullah wanted by the US is a feather in its cap, then isn’t Islamabad’s brazen refusal to hand over Lashkar-e-Taiba co-founder Hafiz Saeed wanted by the US for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks a ‘black-eye’ for Pakistan?

Next is the question as to who Sharifullah is and from where he was apprehended. The Pakistani prime minister mentioned that this ISKP terrorist is an Afghan national who was arrested from the “Pakistan-Afghan border region.” While description of the location has been intentionally kept delightfully vague, it’s evident that Sharifullah was staying in a safe house/hideout well inside Pakistan when he was apprehended. This makes things even more confusing because if Pakistan’s claim about “denying safe havens to terrorists” is indeed true, then why did a “top-tier” ISKP commander from Afghanistan be so imprudent to run the risk of being caught and even killed by opting to seek refuge........

© Eurasia Review