WASHINGTON: The US has urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to work with each other to bring terrorists to justice.

The statement came on Saturday after news reports said the Afghan authorities had arrested five men for their involvement in the Dec 16 attack on a school in Peshawar, claimed by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“We want to see these kinds of people who have plotted and planned terrorist attacks brought to justice and held accountable,” US State Department’s deputy spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters in Washington.

“How that happens, we’ll see. But certainly, we believe it’s important.”

According to a report by the Associated Press news agency, Afghan officials said the arrested men had helped the TTP carry out the attack and were arrested recently near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.

Immediately after the Peshawar attack, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had pledged to help Pakistan catch those responsible for the massacre.

Read: Five suspects of school massacre held in Afghanistan

Western diplomats in Kabul told AP that after the attack, Afghanistan and Pakistan had displayed “unprecedented cooperation” in combating terrorists.

One Western diplomat said those arrested might be used in a prisoner swap deal with Pakistan.

Asked if the United States supported Pakistan’s demand for handing over TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah to Islamabad, Ms Harf said: “This is actually a topic that came up during the secretary’s meeting in Pakistan specifically.”

Also read: Militant siege of Peshawar school ends, 141 killed

She noted that last week the United States designated Fazlullah a global terrorist and would cooperate with Pakistan in bringing him and other terrorists to justice.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play