Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif's tenure ends in November.
As Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley makes fresh charges of links between the Pakistan's spy agency ISI and terror groups, the country's Army chief has accused "hostile" foreign intelligence agencies of funding terrorists operating there.
Making the charges for the third time this month, Mr General Raheel Sharif, whose tenure ends in November this year, however did not specify the agencies or the countries allegedly involved in supporting militancy in Pakistan.
"Terrorists are being funded externally by hostile intelligence agencies and have their sympathisers at home who provide them shelter and refuge," Mr Sharif said while addressing the Corps Commanders Conference held in Rawalpindi yesterday.
"We will defeat the nefarious designs of our enemies and eliminate terrorists from Pakistan's soil," he said.
The allegations come as David Headley in testimonies to an Indian court over the week has
made fresh charges of links between terror networks and Pakistani spy agency ISI.
Speaking from the US via a video link, Headley has said the ISI and the terror outfit Lashkar-Taiba work in close coordination with each other. Former Pakistani Minister Rehman Malik has
rubbished the charges as "a pack of lies".
Earlier last week, Mr Sharif, 59, had emphasised the role of foreign spy agencies in fuelling terrorism in Pakistan during a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
He also blamed "regional and global powers" for fighting proxy wars in Balochistan during a peace seminar in the strife-torn province's capital city Quetta.
He said that Pakistan has achieved significant successes in its military operation Zarb-e-Azb, but the war against terrorism was complex and required steadfast and unified response.