LAHORE: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday said that concurrent blasts at Kabul and Lahore are testimony of our stance that both Pakistan and Afghanistan are victims of terrorism and will continue to suffer if these actors are able to use the Afghan territory with impunity.

He reiterated that, “Pakistan is ready to help Afghanistan to eliminate terrorists’ safe havens in their border areas as we have done on our side.”

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the COAS expressed these views while chairing a security meeting at Headquarters Lahore Corps.

A detailed update on the Operation Raddul Fasaad and Monday’s blast was given. Expressing his grief, the COAS said, “Such incidents cannot lower our resolve to eliminate terrorism from its roots. We are making gains in breaking connectivity between terror masterminds and their facilitators/ executors.”

He said, “the Army fully supports and stands by police and other Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) towards performance of their role as first responders. We have fought against terrorism as a nation and key to success is national participation by reporting every suspicious activity to security forces.”

The COAS said, “Regional actors and hostile intelligence agencies are fully involved to use terror as a policy tool.”

Later, the COAS visited the injured of the blast at General Hospital. Lieutenant General Sadiq Ali Commander Lahore Corps and Inspector General Police Punjab were also present.—NNI