U.S. Army General Michael Kurilla, Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Photo: centcom.mil
Pakistan has been a “phenomenal partner” to the United States as it tries to deliver justice for some of the deadliest attacks against the withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021, said General Michael Kurilla, the U.S. CENTCOM chief on Tuesday (June 10, 2025). Speaking at a House Armed Services Committee hearing, he said Pakistan’s military has captured “at least five ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K)” terrorists using the intelligence provided by the U.S. and argued in favour of strengthening relation with both India and Pakistan.
“Since the beginning of 2024, Pakistan had over 1000 terrorist attacks in the western area killing about 700 security (personnel) and civilians and 2500 wounded — they are in an active counter-terrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism world,” said Gen. Kurilla citing the Pakistani military actions 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 in the backdrop of withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. The United States 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,” Gen. Kurilla said. He said that soon after the arrest of Sharifullah, Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir called him requesting that the information should be delivered to President Donald Trump.
Following the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, India intensified its campaign for stricter international measures against Pakistan to rein in terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that target Indian citizens and facilities. During the Operation Sindoor, Indian forces hit targets inside Pakistan that belonged to LeT and JeM.
Gen. Kurilla however argued in favour of the U.S. engaging both India and Pakistan for advancing 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.
The general said that Pakistan’s actions were eroding ISIS-K that had carried out attacks in Russia as well as in Iran. Apart from Gen. Kurilla, Paul Kapoor, the incoming Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs has also said in a confirmation hearing that “On Pakistan, if confirmed” he will “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 CENTCOM chief. India has been engaged with the United States on cross-border terrorism from Pakistan and the Ministry of External Affairs had informed earlier that Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri who paid a three-day visit to Washington D.C. had included “counter-terrorism” in his agenda during the talks that he held there.
Published – June 11, 2025 09:56 pm IST
