Operation Azm-e-Istehkam: US 'supports' Pakistan's efforts to curb terror

Amid much controversy and criticism, Islamabad's reinvigorated counter-terrorism strategy devised under the title of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam has received the backing of Washington as a State Department spokesperson on Wednesday said they supported the country’s efforts to combat terrorism.

Matthew Miller, who was speaking with journalists during a press briefing in the US capital, said: "We support Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism and ensure the safety and security of its citizens in a manner that promotes the rule of law and protection of human rights."

He was asked about the US government’s response to the fresh counter-terror plan okayed by the Pakistani authorities.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's cabinet approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam with the premier assuring no adverse impact on the civilian population of areas where "only intelligence-based operations would be carried out against terrorists".

The State Department spokesperson also reiterated Washington's resolve towards maintaining its partnership with Pakistan on security issues, which includes its high-level counterterrorism dialogue, including funding robust counterterrorism capacity-building programmes and supporting a series of US-Pakistan military-to-military engagements.

"Pakistani people have suffered tremendously from terrorist attacks. No country should have to suffer such acts of terror," he said, adding that the US and Pakistan have a shared interest in combating threats to regional security.

According to the PM Office (PMO), the new counter-terrorism push was approved with the consensus of all stakeholders including the four provinces as well as Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

However, opposition parties including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam Fazl (JUI-F), Awami National Party (ANP), and others have voiced concerns over the military operation, demanding that parliament must be taken into confidence before taking any such decision.

Meanwhile, as per the PM Office, Shehbaz took members of the federal cabinet into confidence over misunderstandings and speculations about the vision of Azm-e-Istehkam.

"Azm-e-Istehkam is a collective multidimensional operation and national vision of the entire state system, which will be carried out with the security institutions' cooperation,” the prime minister said during the federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad.

The premier said under this, intelligence-based operations would be intensified, instead of launching a new organised armed operation.

The PM said the perception of launching a new operation for which displacement would be required was a misunderstanding.

“The aim of the operation is to uproot remnants of terrorists, crimes and terrorist nexus,” he said adding that the operation would also target to root out violent extremism from the country.