US CENTCOM chief General Michael Kurilla terms Pakistan a ‘phenomenal partner’ in counter-terrorism

U.S. Army General Michael Kurilla, Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Photo: centcom.mil

Pakistan has been a “phenomenal partner” to the U.S. in countering terrorism, U.S. General Michael Kurilla said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a U.S. House Armed Services Committee hearing, the CENTCOM chief said that Pakistan’s military has captured “at least five ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K)” terrorists using intelligence provided by the U.S., and argued in favour of strengthening relations with both India and Pakistan.

“Since the beginning of 2024, Pakistan had over 1,000 terrorist attacks in the western area, killing about 700 security (personnel) and civilians, and 2,500 [were] wounded — they are in an active counter-terrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism world,” Gen. Kurilla said, citing Pakistani military actions against ISIS-K.

‘Pakistan effective against ISIS-K’

Gen. Kurilla appreciated the Pakistan military for arresting Mohammed Sharifullah, who was accused of orchestrating and providing material support for the August 26, 2021 suicide blast at Kabul airport that led to the death of at least 13 U.S. military personnel and at least 170 Afghan civilians during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The U.S. had blamed the attack on ISIS-Khorasan elements. Sharifullah, also known by his alias Jaffar, was flown to the U.S. in the first week of March.

“We’re seeing Pakistan — with limited intelligence that we provided them — go after them using their means to do that and we’re seeing an effect on ISIS Khorasan,” said Gen. Kurilla. He added that, soon after the arrest of Sharifullah, Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir had called him, requesting that the information should be delivered to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, India intensified its campaign for stricter international measures against Pakistan to rein in terror outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which target Indian citizens and facilities from Pakistan bases. During Operation Sindoor, Indian forces hit targets inside Pakistan that belonged to the LeT and JeM.

‘U.S. needs ties with India, Pakistan’

Gen. Kurilla, however, argued in favour of the U.S. engaging both India and Pakistan in order to advance its security goals. “We have to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India. I don’t believe it’s a binary switch that we can’t have one with Pakistan if we have one with India. We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s actions were eroding the ISIS-K that had carried out attacks in Russia as well as in Iran.

Incoming U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapoor had also expressed similar views in a confirmation hearing. “On Pakistan, if confirmed,” he said that he would “pursue security cooperation where it is beneficial to U.S. interests.”

The Ministry of External Affairs is yet to respond to the remarks from the U.S. CENTCOM chief. India has been engaging with the U.S. on its concerns about cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who visited Washington DC from May 27 to 29, had also included “counter-terrorism” in his agenda during his talks there, the MEA said.