Civil, military leaders say terror elimination is national resolve

Shabqadar bombing condemned, details to be shared with Kabul

ISLAMABAD: In a high-level huddle at the Prime Minister’s House on Tuesday, the civil and military leadership unanimously asserted that the elimination of terrorism from Pakistan was an unwavering national resolve.

Chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the meeting was attended by Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Federal Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar Malik, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, Secretary to the Prime Minister (SPM) Fawad Hasan Fawad, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, National Security Adviser (NSA) to the Prime Minister Lieutenant General (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua and other senior government officials.

Highly-placed sources told The News that the civil and military leadership discussed a number of subjects of national importance related to security. The meeting has significance in the backdrop of developments India, Afghanistan and upcoming visit of Iran’s President Dr. Hasan Rouhani to Pakistan.

The huddle took place just a day before the departure of Prime Minister Nawaz and Army Chief Gen Raheel to Saudi Arabia for attending the summit of 34 Muslim countries alliance under Saudi Arabia against terrorism and witnessing the concluding ceremony of ongoing military exercises of the alliance forces in the Kingdom.

The two will also have important meetings with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and other top Royal dignitaries during their three-day stay in Saudi Arabia. 

The sources pointed out that General Nasser Khan Janjua briefed the meeting about his contacts with his Indian counterpart. He took the participants of the meeting into confidence on the outcome of his recent sharing of intelligence with the Indian NSA regarding a group of extremists who have sneaked in India for creating terror.

The sources said the meeting that lasted more than three hours took stock of efforts for facilitating dialogue between the Afghan government and Taliban besides other issues. 

General Raheel Sharif who met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and ISAF military commander last week in Kabul, briefed the meeting about what transpired in his interactions in the Afghan capital.

The meetings in Kabul have enhanced the level of confidence between the two capitals, the sources said.  The PM House has stated that the issues pertaining to national and internal security were discussed during the meeting.

The participants of the meeting strongly condemned the cowardly act of terrorism in Shabqadar on Monday in which civilians and policemen lost their precious lives. The meeting paid tribute to the law enforcement agencies’ (LEAs) personnel who embraced martyrdom while fighting terrorism.

The sources said Shabqadar attack was organised in bordering areas inside Afghanistan and investigators had found clue about it. Further investigations are underway.  Once the details are gathered, the same would be shared with the Afghan administration through a dedicated channel, the sources added. 

The leadership vowed to eliminate terrorism and reviewed the internal security situation.  The participants condemned the cowardly act of terrorism in Shabqadar in which 17 people, including civilians and law enforcement agency personnel, were killed.

Operation Zarb-e-Azb also came under discussion and satisfaction was expressed about its outcome and pace. The participants were also briefed about action in Shawal area of North Waziristan that was started Monday evening resulting in elimination of a number of terrorists.

The meeting was informed that the joint action of the Army Aviation and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had yielded positive results and strengthened the position of Pakistan’s troops in the area that has been used by terrorists in the past but now they are on the run, the sources added.

Meanwhile, India’s inadequate and dissatisfactory response to the queries made by Pakistan about the Pathankot airbase attack early this year might cause further delay in sending investigators to India and subsequently resumption of stalled dialogue between the two countries wouldn’t be possible even within this month. Pakistan is asking further queries in the light of recently received replies of earlier questioning and will dispatch its investigators only after being satisfied about its queries.