Following the attacks at the American University in Kabul, which claimed 13 lives and left dozens injured, fingers were pointed towards Pakistan by the Afghan authorities. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani contacted Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to go after the attackers’ accomplices from across the border. However, Pakistan informed the Afghan government that since no technical traces of telephonic contacts between the university attackers and people on Pakistan’s side of the border could be found, and sought more evidence. The Afghan government had shared three mobile numbers allegedly operating on the Pakistani side of the border, which it claimed had remained in contact with the attackers. Subsequently, the Pakistan army initiated a combing operation along the Pak-Afghan border near Chaman to find the suspected persons. Furthermore, Pakistani intelligence agencies are continuing with the evaluation of the information shared by Afghanistan after the attack. The allegations come amid a special US delegation’s visit to Islamabad. US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson, Special Assistant to the US President Dr Peter Lavoy, and Commander of Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan General John Nicholson visited Islamabad as a part of regular Pak-US high-level exchanges, and held meetings at the General Headquarters and the Foreign Office of Pakistan. In their meetings, the US delegation had praised Pakistan’s efforts in the war on terror. Despite strained relations and exchange of allegations in recent times, the alleged presence of the attackers on the Pakistani side of Pak-Afghan border area cannot be ignored. Although Pakistan’s military has claimed significant progress in the operations launched to rid the country of terrorists, the problem still needs major addressing. Over the years, the allegations of militants operating from Pakistan in Afghanistan had been denied by Islamabad. Pakistan did not come out of that denial mode until it was hurt itself severely. And that is when the operations in FATA came into play. Similarly, both the Afghan government and the US intelligence agencies had alleged the presence of terrorist groups in Pakistan, which had been denied by Pakistan over the years. Despite claims of significant progress in the Operation Zarb-e-Azb, Pentagon still insists on taking action against all terror groups without discrimination, the Haqqani network being the main issue. Despite Pakistan’s promises of going all-out against terrorists without any discrimination, the US had to take a strict measure resulting in the blockade of military aid conditioned with action against the Haqqani network. Due to a media blackout in the border area, no one can accurately estimate the progress of the ongoing operations, nor it can be assessed how much area is still under the control of militants. Moreover, Pakistan’s history of poking into the internal matter of Afghanistan over the years has left a sense of animosity among its people towards Pakistan. Despite the strained relations, Pakistan needs to do as much as possible to address Afghan government’s concerns. This is the only way to build trust between the two countries. Furthermore, the intelligence sharing mechanism between the two nations should be evolved to avoid any misunderstanding and to implement a system for prompt actions. Pakistan cannot simply ignore Afghanistan just because it is not a significant economic ally or a strong neighbour that can help Pakistan in its difficult times. *