US expects Pak to conduct fair probe into Pathankot attack

Washington, Jan 8: The US expects Pakistan to conduct a "thorough, complete, fair and transparent" investigation into the terror attack on the IAF base in Pathankot, and has said it is "looking forward" to seeing the results of the probe.

"We certainly look forward to and expect a thorough, complete, fair and transparent investigative process. We are going to have to let it work through," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said yesterday.

"We look forward to seeing the results of their investigation. We would all like them to be done as quickly as possible and transparently discussed when it's complete," Kirby said, adding that it was upto Pakistan to sort out how long the probe would take.

"They (Pakistan) said they're going to investigate it. They said they're not going to discriminate between terrorist groups when they conduct counter-terrorism operations," the official said, acknowledging that the US has reached out to Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack.

The US encourages an "aggresive" approach to counter-terrorism operations by Pakistan and other regional powers, Kirby said, and expressed willingness to support such operations as required or deemed fit by those nations.

The State Department spokesperson could not confirm the veracity of the report written by former CIA official Bruce Riedel that ISI was behind the Pathankot terrorist attack. "I saw Mr Riedel's piece. I'm not in a position to confirm the veracity of his conclusions," he said.

PTI