Stability returning to country after Zarb-e-Azb: COAS

BAHAWALPUR: The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif, on Tuesday said stability was returning to the country due to the ongoing military operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan and surrounding areas.
“A peaceful environment in and around Pakistan is our top priority,” Director General ISPR quoted the army chief as saying on Twitter.Addressing a gathering of army officers in the Bahawalpur Cantonment, the army chief said the enemy forces could not take Pak army’s focus away from targeting terrorism in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), adding that security forces were breaking linkage of terrorists in the rest of the country.
“No challenge is insurmountable. Let’s take Pakistan forward. Our greatest asset — the youth — must be encouraged and honed.”He paid tributes to the resilience, professionalism and sacrifices of troops during the ongoing fight against terrorism.
The Zarb-e-Azb was launched in mid-June following a brazen attack on the Karachi airport by Taliban gunmen and after a government peace initiative with the Taliban fell apart. Hundreds of thousands of tribesmen were displaced by the operation.
The military leadership has repeatedly stated the operation is indiscriminate and targeted at terrorists of all hues and nobody is being spared.Following the December 16 massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar, the government adopted a National Plan of Action (NAP) against terrorism.
The NAP is a comprehensive long-term strategy to address extremism and terrorism in the country with the government doing its best for its implementation.The Pakistani military had also sought Afghan help in the offensive by stepping up efforts to eliminate the leader of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Mullah Fazlullah, believed to be hiding across the border.