Islamabad – Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday said while counter-terrorism efforts by Pakistan would continue, it was time now for the other stakeholders, particularly Afghanistan, to ‘do more’.
The COAS was chairing a high-level security meeting held here in the backdrop of the recent spate of terrorist activities in the country.
He was briefed in detail about the recent incidents and their manifest linkages with terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan operating under the patronage of NDS and RAW, an Inter-Services Public Relations news release said.
The COAS said that since 9/11, Pakistan was one of the few countries, which had borne the brunt of terrorism and made monumental sacrifices to effectively neutralise the menace in its state territories.
“Unfortunately our sacrifices against terrorism are not well acknowledged and we are often subjected to demand of ‘do more’,” he added.
He said while counter-terrorism efforts by Pakistan would continue, it was time now for the other stakeholders, particularly Afghanistan to ‘do more’.
The COAS reiterated, “We will continue our efforts to positively contribute towards regional peace and stability, and shall not allow use of our territory against any other country.”
He appreciated efforts of the security forces, intelligence and other law enforcement agencies in foiling countless terrorist activities through the ongoing Operation Raddul Fasaad.
The COAS expressed his resolve to eliminate the menace to ensure safety and security of Pakistan and its resilient people, who were real strength of their brave security forces.
NISAR LINKS TERROR WAVE TO PAK-AFGHAN BORDER OPENING
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday linked the recent wave of terrorism in the country to the opening of Pak-Afghan border.
He said this while discussing the incidents of terrorism in Parachinar, Quetta, and Karachi in separate telephonic conversations with Chief of General Staff Lt-Gen Bilal Akbar, Director General Rangers Sindh Maj-Gen Muhammad Saeed and Inspector General of FC Balochistan Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum.
“In his conversation with Chief of General Staff Lt-Gen Bilal Akbar, the minister showed his annoyance that as soon as the government opens designated crossing points along the Pak-Afghan border, terrorism activities spike in Pakistan,” said a spokesperson for the interior ministry while quoting the minister.
During the discussion, it was agreed that Pakistani security forces would enhance monitoring on these crossing points with strict surveillance of those crossing the points.
“This is highly deplorable that Afghanistan blames Pakistan for every terrorist activity inside its country without any investigations,” the minister said adding that western countries never took notice of cross-border terrorism in Pakistan and the involvement of foreign countries in the worst terrorist activities here.
“It is the need of the hour that we should have an effective monitoring and defence system on our borders to stop the infiltration of terrorists from across the border,” he said.
During the discussion, Nisar also showed his displeasure that the provincial governments have failed to avert such incidents despite the fact that the interior ministry issues timely threat alerts to them besides providing prior tip-off.
“This should be analysed that the interior ministry issued two separate threat alerts about terrorist activities in Parachinar to the provincial government but no preventive measures were taken to avert the Friday’s attacks,” he said.
Nisar also instructed Balochistan FC IG and Sindh DG Rangers that all available resources including the information provided by intelligence agencies should be utilized to arrest the culprits, groups and their facilitators behind the other day’s three terrorism incidents.
The minister also directed both that a comprehensive strategy on security should be devised to protect the life and property of the people on Eidul Fitr.
The interior minister also got the details about the evidence in these incidents which surfaced as a result of investigations made in these cases so far. “The purpose of these incidents ahead of Eid is to create a chaos and uncertainty about the security situation in the country,” noted the minister. “But these coward acts would neither low the morale of the nation nor would efforts our efforts to end terrorism,” he stressed. The state would retaliate with full force and strong determination to counter these terrorist activities, he said.
The minister in his telephonic conversation with IG FC Balochistan got a briefing on the operation of FC recently launched in an area near Quetta. The minister was informed that two dangerous terrorists belonging to a terrorist outfit were killed in the operation. Their names were Nazar Muhammad alias Babrig and Muhammad Jan alias Chota Lalla. They were involved in different terrorist incidents including Quaid-e-Azam residency, Quetta Railway track, Quetta Express and attacks on personnel of law enforcement agencies. The IG FC also told the minister about the hit-and-run incident of the vehicle of member provincial assembly Balochistan in which a traffic police sub-inspector was killed.
“It is the need of the hour that we should have an effective monitoring and defence system on our borders to stop the infiltration of terrorists from across the border,” he said.
During the discussion, Nisar also showed his displeasure that the provincial governments have failed to avert such incidents despite the fact that the interior ministry issues timely threat alerts to them besides providing prior tip-off.
“This should be analysed that the interior ministry issued two separate threat alerts about terrorist activities in Parachinar to the provincial government but no preventive measures were taken to avert the Friday’s attacks,” he said.
Nisar also instructed Balochistan FC IG and Sindh DG Rangers that all available resources including the information provided by intelligence agencies should be utilized to arrest the culprits, groups and their facilitators behind the other day’s three terrorism incidents.
The minister also directed both that a comprehensive strategy on security should be devised to protect the life and property of the people on Eidul Fitr.
The interior minister also got the details about the evidence in these incidents which surfaced as a result of investigations made in these cases so far. “The purpose of these incidents ahead of Eid is to create a chaos and uncertainty about the security situation in the country,” noted the minister. “But these coward acts would neither low the morale of the nation nor would efforts our efforts to end terrorism,” he stressed. The state would retaliate with full force and strong determination to counter these terrorist activities, he said.
The minister in his telephonic conversation with IG FC Balochistan got a briefing on the operation of FC recently launched in an area near Quetta. The minister was informed that two dangerous terrorists belonging to a terrorist outfit were killed in the operation. Their names were Nazar Muhammad alias Babrig and Muhammad Jan alias Chota Lalla. They were involved in different terrorist incidents including Quaid-e-Azam residency, Quetta Railway track, Quetta Express and attacks on personnel of law enforcement agencies. The IG FC also told the minister about the hit-and-run incident of the vehicle of member provincial assembly Balochistan in which a traffic police sub-inspector was killed.
