WASHINGTON – The decision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to cancel the US visit is completely understandable, a State Department spokesman said on Monday.
At a press briefing in Washington, spokesman John Kirby condemned the horrific attack on innocent people and said that the United States was committed to help Pakistan in the fight against terrorism. He said that the Lahore attack as a lash out from a group under pressure from the ongoing military operation by the Pakistani security forces.
To a question on the cancellation of visit by the prime minister, he said that given what just happened, it’s completely understandable why he would want to stay at home. To another question, Kirby said that the Pakistani security forces continue to put pressure on the Taliban – which has claimed the responsibility for attack and as groups like this get put under pressure – it is somewhat to be expected that they will look for ways to lash out.
He said that the Taliban was still a dangerous group and the threat they pose has to be taken very seriously. However, he said, unlike Daesh (Islamic State), the Taliban is not a self-proclaimed caliphate. “They weren’t and haven’t tried to sort of set up an alternate governing structure or to take over the Government of Pakistan.”
“So they’re different groups, different goals, different objectives, but obviously still the same deadly means of carrying out the violence,” he added. Asked to give his assessment about the security situation in Pakistan, he said that there was no doubt that Pakistan continues to be under threat from terrorists inside their own country.
Kirby said Pakistan took that threat very seriously and they don’t need to be reminded of the danger from terrorism inside Pakistan. He said that the United States commitment to Pakistan remained unchanged and it would do what it can to help deal with this threat.
“It’s not just a Pakistani threat. It’s a regional threat; it’s a global threat in many ways,” he said and added the United States stands by the people of Pakistan right now and we also stand by our commitment to assist Pakistan going forward.
About the claims by the group that the Christians were targeted, the spokesman said there were no indications that their claim of responsibility was false.
