U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has held talks in Pakistan on an unannounced visit to discuss security cooperation in the fight against militants.
Kerry met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as well as Army Chief Raheel Sharif although few details emerges after their talks in Islamabad on January 12.
The huge challenge Pakistan faces from militants was underscored home when Taliban assailants attacked an army-run school in Peshawar on December 16 and killed more than 150 people, almost all of them children.
The visit by Kerry, who arrived from India, coincides with the reopening of the Peshawar school and others across Pakistan after an extended break following the attack.
It also comes after the withdrawal of most foreign troops from Afghanistan, where the NATO combat mission formally ended last month.