Civil-military leaders huddle today amid spike in terror attacks

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR, QUETTA: Amid the increasing incidents of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the country’s top civil and military leadership will put their heads together on the national security situation in an in-camera session at the Parliament House on Tuesday (today).

Extraordinary security arrangements would be inplace at the Parliament House and its environs during the in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the National Assembly Secretariat said all parliamentary leaders of political parties, along with their designated representatives, will attend the meeting.

The military leadership will brief the parliamentary committee on the security challenges being faced by the country and the measures taken to address them.

Furthermore, to ensure security during the meeting, law enforcement agencies have been placed on high alert, and stringent security measures have been implemented within and around the Parliament House.

The media personnel will not be granted access to the parliament building and the press cards issued would be rendered ineffective today.

Additionally, no unauthorized individuals would be allowed to enter the Parliament House during the meeting.

Moreover, carrying mobile phones inside the National Assembly Hall will not be permitted during the committee meeting.

While the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to attend the in-camera meeting of the parliamentary committee, the opposition alliance — Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Aaeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) — has decided to skip the session.

Amid confusion surrounding the participation of Imran Khan-led party, sources told Geo News that several PTI leaders, including Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, put their weight behind attending the crucial NA session.

However, PTI KP chapter President Junaid Akbar called for holding consultations on attending the key huddle amid a rift between the opposition and coalition government.

Insiders claimed the PTI forwarded 14 names of lawmakers to the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for participation.

The TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai said the opposition alliance would not attend the meeting.

Meanwhile, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chairman Hamid Raza said he would not participate in the meeting. However, he added that all parliament members should have been taken into confidence over the situation.

However, BNP President Sardar Akhtar Mengal has declined an invitation to attend the in-camera session, stating that he was no longer a Member of Parliament.

Prime Minister’s aide on Political and Public Affaris Rana Sanaullah told Geo News the civil and military leadership would deliberate on a strategy to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a “proxy” state.

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, the ruling PML-N leader noted that the session will not only focus on convincing Afghanistan to maintain neutrality but also discuss future course of action if Kabul refuses to accept Pakistan’s demand to deny militants space to operate on its soil.

In a related development, Opposition Leader and PTI leader Omar Ayub Monday wrote to the Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq seeking facilitation in their meeting with the party’s founder chairman Imran Khan prior to the National Security Committee meeting.

He emphasized that to ensure a well-informed and constructive contribution to the national security matters, consultation with their founder chairman and ‘Prime Minister’ Imran Khan was of utmost importance.

“We seek facilitation from your office to arrange a meeting with our founder chairman and Prime Minister Imran Khan who is currently incarcerated at Adiala Jail, early in the morning prior to the scheduled security briefing. This consultation is crucial for us to align our position effectively on matters of national significance,” he wrote in the letter.

He said, “Given the gravity of the issues to be discussed in the briefing, I request you to have the necessary directives issued to facilitate this meeting”.

Earlier, Chairman Gohar said when it comes to the grave issue of terrorism, it needs to be taken very seriously.

Talking to the media here, he emphasized that it should not matter who is criticizing whom, whoever dies in terrorism in Pakistan is a Pakistani.

“We have already demanded that there should be an in-camera briefing, as the menace of terrorism is unacceptable,” he maintained.

Barrister Gohar said India was and had been involved in terrorism in Pakistan. He added that the parliamentary party and political committee will decide on their participation in the security meeting.

Meanwhile, Senate’s former chairman Mian Raza Rabbani Monday demanded that the members of the Senate Standing Committee’s on Defence and Foreign Affairs should also be the part of the in-camera meeting.

“The issue of terrorism is related essentially to the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Senate is the House of Federation and must therefore be adequately represented,” he demanding in a statement.

Rabbani said the meeting should consider a new National Action Plan (NAP), as the existing plan was drafted in 2014 and revised in 2021 and since then the situation had undergone a drastic change.

He said the new NAP’s red lines should be (a) no compromise on Pakistan’s territorial solidarity, and (b) supremacy of the Constitution, 1973.

Violence continued to hit Khyber and Pakhtunkhwa on Monday increasing scare among the people.

In KP, unidentified armed motorcyclists martyred Head-Constable Arman Khan of the Frontier Reserve Police (FRP) on Miranshah Road early Monday morning. He was deployed at the Judicial Complex when he was targeted.

The attackers fled the scene without being challenged.

The funeral prayers of Arman Khan were offered with state honors at the Bannu Police Lines. A contingent of police presented a salute to the martyr’s body, a floral wreath was laid, and special prayers were offered for his elevation of ranks in Jannah.

The security forces killed three Khwarij in an intelligence based operation (IBO) in general area Tor Darra, Khyber District on reported presence of Khwarij, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said.

During the conduct of operation, the troops engaged the Khwarij killing three.Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed Khwarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area.

A sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other Khwarij found in the area.In Balochistan, three people, including children, were injured in a hand grenade attack by unidentified armed men on a house in the Kuchak area of Khuzdar.

According to Khuzdar police, unidentified armed individuals threw a hand grenade at the house of SHO City Hub Abdul Qadir Sheikh and fled the scene. The grenade explosion resulted in injuries to the SHO’s father Abdul Ghafoor, Bushra Bint Murtaza and Afshan Bint Abdul Sattar.

After receiving medical treatment at the Government Teaching Hospital, Khuzdar, the injured were sent to Karachi for further treatment.The police have started investigating the incident.