Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif thanked US President Donald Trump for commending Pakistan's role in countering terrorism in the region in connection with the arrest of an ISIS leader accused of orchestrating a suicide bombing that killed 13 US troops in 2021.

Sharif's statement followed Trump's speech to Congress, when he said that the man responsible for the killing of 13 US troops at the Kabul airport in 2021 had been arrested with the help of Pakistan and was now being transferred to the US to face justice. About 170 Afghan citizens were killed in the attack.

Sharif also said that Pakistan would keep working closely with the United States to ensure regional peace and stability. He said that Pakistani security forces had arrested the top operational commander of ISIS, Mohammad Sharifullah. The suspect is an Afghan national. "A wanted terrorist was apprehended in a successful operation conducted in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area," he said.

Trump thanked the Pakistani government for helping to catch the "monster" the day before.