"KABUL — As the death toll rose to 148 from Tuesday’s massacre at a military-funded high school, the crisis sent Pakistani leaders rushing to Kabul on Wednesday to make a rare request for Afghanistan’s help in fighting Islamist terrorism on both sides of their volatile border.

After years of mistrust and enmity, it was a moment of truth for the neighboring Muslim countries, both facing new bouts of terrorism that threaten to reinforce their mutual suspicions and ignite more violence as Western forces finalize their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Yet the moment also offered an opportunity to replace finger pointing with something closer to common cause."...

..."Atiqullah Amarkhail, a retired Afghan army general in Kabul, dismissed Gen. Sharif’s visit as an attempt to distract attention from Pakistan’s failure to prevent the school attack. He called it a “maneuver” to pressure Ghani’s government and “pretend those responsible for the deadly attack in Peshawar are based in Afghanistan.”

“Pakistan will never give up destabilizing Afghanistan,” said one Afghan, Fatel Arezoi, in a Facebook post Wednesday night. “Gen. Raheel is here to get support from the Afghan army to destroy the TTP [Pakistani Taliban]. . . . Do not help him. The TTP is Pakistan’s problem, not ours.” ...