PM Shehbaz, army chief discuss security situation
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday and discussed the current law and order situation in the wake of increasing terrorist attacks, Express News reported among the country.General Asim briefed the Prime Minister on the security situation of the country during the meeting.According to sources, the National Security Committee (MKN) meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) also came up for discussion during the discussion.
The high-powered MKN meeting will take a comprehensive look at the strategy in the wake of the continued escalation of terrorist attacks.The army chiefs will brief the participants of the MKN meeting on the increase in terrorist incidents, the situation on the Pak-Afghan border and the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP), the source added.In addition, issues related to the preparation of a joint counter-terrorism strategy were also discussed during the meeting of civilian and military leaders.
Ministers, security officials, foreign ministers, home ministers, defense ministers, finance ministers and intelligence ministers all attended the MKN meeting chaired by PM Shehbaz.A day earlier, the country’s top military officer had vowed to “fight terrorism indiscriminately” as terrorism reared its ugly head once again with a new wave of attacks in the country.
The resolution was reiterated at a meeting of battalion chiefs at GHQ chaired by army chief General Syed Asim Munir
“Military operations and organizational issues have been thoroughly reviewed. It aims to combat terrorism without any discrimination and eliminate this menace as desired by the people of Pakistan,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.The group of army chiefs also comes amid an increase in terrorist attacks across the country largely linked to the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which unilaterally abandoned a ceasefire in November that effectively ended earlier talks led by Afghan Taliban.
The TTP, which has been completely defeated by the army in a decisive military crackdown, has secured a safe haven across the border in Afghanistan from where the group has directed its terror operations in Pakistan.Islamabad called these TTP sanctuaries a “red line” and forced Kabul’s new government to take action against them.Experts believe Pakistan is losing patience with Kabul’s desire to reduce the TTP’s base with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari saying during his recent visit to the US that “all options are on the table” to see a resurgent TTP on the right.
