PTI skips top-level huddle against terrorism: Centre, provinces to adopt uniform strategy on terrorism

PESHAWAR: The Apex Committee Friday pledged to “eliminate terrorism root and branch” in its all shapes and manifestations and emphasised that all state institutions will have to join forces to successfully accomplish this task.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the committee meeting that discussed the rising acts of militancy, particularly the tragic attack at the Police Lines in Peshawar. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) stayed away from the meeting.

Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir, Federal Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali, Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Amir Muqam, religious leaders and police chiefs of all the provinces attended the meeting.

The representatives of state institutions also briefed the meeting on the overall security situation and operations against terrorists.

“The meeting agreed to eliminate all sources of support for terrorists and directed the [officials concerned] for effective screening,” the statement said.

It said the terrorists targeting the Federation of Pakistan would be made an example that would serve as a deterrent for others.

It said the government had a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of terrorism, adding that national consensus would ensure the implementation of decisions taken at the meeting.

The participants reviewed the recent terrorist incidents, particularly the suicide blast that took place at the Police Lines in which over 100 people, mostly policemen, were martyred.

Speaking on the occasion, the premier vowed that the federal government would help strengthen the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police to help them fight terrorism.

He said the KP province was witnessing terrorism that needed capacity-building of its security departments.

The prime minister called for unity among the provinces to fight the menace of terrorism. He condemned the ongoing campaign on social media in the wake of Peshawar incident.

He said a thorough investigation would be carried out to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.

He expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and announced Rs2 million compensation for each martyred official and Rs0.5 million for each injured on behalf of the federal government.

The prime minister said he had convened an all parties conference (APC) on February 7 to discuss ways to overcome the current challenges.

He said an invitation had been extended to the PTI leadership to attend the moot.

The prime minister called for forging national unity against terrorism and urged all the stakeholders to shun their differences and sit together to wipe out terrorism in its all forms and manifestation.

He said all political-religious parties’ leadership, irrespective of their political, religious and linguistic ideologies, should stand united to win the fight against terrorism.

He expressed his government’s strong resolve that the fight against terrorism would continue till its logical end and extermination.

The prime minister said undue criticism, propaganda and blames over the police Lines mosque blast was highly condemnable. “We have to admit the facts behind the blast that saddened the whole nation.”

He said it would be probed how the terrorist sneaked into the mosque and carried out such a huge blast that claimed the lives of around 80 to 85 innocent worshippers and many others were injured.

He said the Federation and provinces should fight out terrorism jointly. “After every incident of the past, the Federation was blamed for not cooperating with KP.”

Shehbaz Sharif disclosed that Rs417 billion had been provided to KP since 2010 under the National Finance Commission Award that was supposed to be spent on capacity-building, infrastructure development and equipment for the counter-terrorism department and wondered where that huge amount was spent. He suggested complete probe and audit of the huge amount.

He said the purpose of convening the Apex Committee meeting in Peshawar was to express solidarity with the bereaved families of martyrs and injured and apprise all the stakeholders about the law and order situation in the province.

Referring to the recent terrorist attacks on CTD Bannu and Police Lines Peshawar, Shehbaz Sharif said the whole nation was worried that the menace of terrorism, which was wiped out by the Nawaz Sharif government, had reemerged in KP, which was highly deplorable.

He said the successful operations of Zarb-e-Azb and Radul Fasad had immensely helped in wiping out terrorism from the province and lauded the sacrifices of security forces, government officials, people, civil society and civil armed forces for the country’s protection. The premier strongly condemned the social media speculations and propaganda in the wake of the police lines mosque blast, adding that rumours of a drone attack and other allegations related to the blast were inappropriate. He clarified that it was a suicide attack. The prime minister said the practice of criticism for the sake of criticism should be avoided and facts should not be distorted and supremacy of truth should prevail.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector-General of Police Muazzam Jah Ansari also updated the meeting on the investigation into the Police Lines blast and the progress made so far.

Ansari informed the participants about the way and routes of the attacker’s arrival in the area, which the police has identified through videos.

The meeting also hailed the prime minister for convening the All Parties Conference (APC) after the rise in terrorism, hoping that the political leadership would sit together at the table to end terrorism and would decide on steps through national consensus.

The meeting offered Fateha for those who lost their lives in the Police Lines mosque bombing.

The meeting decided to come up with a comprehensive policy to fight terrorism by evolving a consensus among all the provinces and other stakeholders.

The participants also reviewed the progress on the implementation of the National Action Plan and called for making changes in it in accordance with the security situation.

The meeting approved the suggestions to provide funding, equipment and training to the officials of National Counter Terrorism Authority, Counter-Terrorism Department and the Police Department.

The meeting also approved construction of the CTD headquarters in Peshawar and establishment of a forensic laboratory. It also decided to execute the Safe City Project in Peshawar.

The committee also appealed to religious scholars to play their role in eradicating terrorism.

Ulema were urged to create an awareness among the masses against such attacks which are “haram” [prohibited in Islam] and against the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

It added those who shed the blood of innocents had nothing to do with Islam.