Pakistan to keep momentum in anti-terror fight: Aizaz

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Thursday said that the country would keep the momentum in fight against terrorism as efforts of its security forces had started bearing fruits.

Responding to queries by The News on the latest country report of US State Department on terrorism, the ambassador highlighted Pakistan’s achievements in war on terror.

“It is a well-known fact that Pakistan's counter-terror efforts have resulted in a significant decline in terrorists’ attacks,” he said adding that the country is maintaining the momentum in fighting terrorism as is evident through Operation Raddul Fasaad and the recently launched operation Khyber-IV.

While covering the latest report, the US and international media highlighted decline in terrorism acts in Pakistan and some other countries while Indian media went all guns blazing against Pakistan over the mention of the country in the list of those having terrorist safe havens. The 2016 report did mention Pakistan among a dozen other countries where terrorist have safe havens, but the same was the case in previous year’s report. However, Indian media and social media users portrayed it as President Trumps warning to Pakistan made possible after US leaders meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.

Commenting on the report, Ambassador Chaudhry said Pakistan has been a victim of terrorism and has paid a staggering human and financial cost over the past decade. “Pakistan has also spearheaded the fight against terrorism and has achieved significant successes,” he added.

The State Department report noted that terrorism was on decline in Pakistan for the second straight year in 2016. It also acknowledges Pakistan as “important counterterrorism partner” and lauded the country for its efforts on nuclear safety.

The number of terrorism-related civilian deaths in 2016 was approximately 600, far lower than the peak years of 2012 and 2013, when terrorist acts left more than 3,000 civilians dead each year, the report noted.

However, the report claimed Pakistan did not take substantial action against Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network although it acknowledges Islamabad’s support to bring these groups into an Afghan-led peace process. The report also claimed that Pakistan did not take sufficient action against Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Pakistan was a constructive and active participant in the Nuclear Security Summit process and in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, and worked to strengthen its strategic trade controls, including updating its national export control list,” the report said.