Pakistan, Iraq discuss enhancing bilateral defense and security cooperation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza this week met Iraq’s Secretary Defense Lt. Gen. Ahmed Dawood Salman to discuss enhancing defense and security cooperation between the two states, the army’s media wing said.
Pakistan’s relations with Iraq have enhanced in the past few years through defense cooperation, with Islamabad providing support to Iraqi security forces in their fight against the militant group Daesh. In 2014, Iraq purchased the Super Mushak trainer aircraft from Pakistan as part of improving defense ties between the two Muslim-majority countries.
Salman called on Mirza at the Joint Staff Headquarters in Pakistan’s garrison city of Rawalpindi on Monday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
“Matters of bilateral interests including emerging security environment and enhancement of security and defense cooperation between the two countries were discussed during the meeting,” the ISPR said.
The army’s media wing said Salman commended the professionalism of Pakistan’s armed forces and acknowledged the sacrifices rendered by the country’s people in its war against militancy.
Pakistan has been fighting religiously motivated militant groups in the country, notably the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or the Pakistani Taliban, since 2007. These militant outfits have carried out some of the deadliest attacks against the South Asian country’s armed forces and civilians, including suicide bombings.
Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks in its western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan since November 2022, after a fragile truce between the state and the TTP broke down.

Pakistan, Iraq discuss enhancing bilateral defense and security cooperation