National Action Plan: Top security panel okays military operation against terror outfits in Balochistan

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Apex Committee Tuesday greenlighted a comprehensive military operation against the terror outfits operating in Balochistan, targeting innocent civilians and foreign nationals to scuttle Pakistan’s economic progress by creating insecurity at the behest of hostile external powers.

“The committee approved a comprehensive military operation against terrorist organisations operating in Balochistan, including the Majeed Brigade, BLA, BLF and BRAS, which are targeting innocent civilians and foreign nationals to scuttle Pakistan’s economic progress by creating insecurity at the behest of hostile external powers,” said a statement issued by the PM Office after the meeting.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chaired the committee meeting. Federal cabinet members, provincial chief ministers, Army Chief General Asim Munir and senior government officials attended the meeting. The agenda of the meeting focused on the “Reinvigorating Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism (CT) Campaign”. The participants were briefed on the evolving security landscape and the measures being taken to counter terrorism and other critical challenges, including the general law and order situation, actions against efforts to stoke sub-nationalism, religious extremism, tackling the illegal spectrum and crime-terror nexus, subversion and disinformation campaigns, among other issues.

The committee highlighted the necessity of a unified political voice and a cohesive national narrative to effectively address these multifaceted challenges. It was emphasised that political support across the party lines and complete national consensus were critical to reinvigorating the national counter-terrorism campaign under the framework of ‘Vision Azm-e-Istehkam’.

The revitalisation of Nacta and the establishment of National and Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Centre were also agreed upon. A whole-of-system approach was adopted, incorporating diplomatic, political, informational, intelligence, socio-economic and military efforts to address these issues comprehensively.

Specific emphasis was placed on strengthening collaboration between the federal and provincial governments and between relevant institutions and ministries to ensure seamless execution of the counterterror campaign. It was decided to establish District Coordination Committees under the Provincial Apex Committees to ensure the implementation of directions received from the federal and provincial governments. The forum demonstrated the political resolve to dismantle the ecosystem of illegal spectrum and crime-terror nexus.

Speaking at the conclusion of the meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed all the stakeholders to pursue the outlined initiatives with vigour, ensuring their timely implementation. He underscored the importance of sustained, coordinated efforts to protect Pakistan’s sovereignty, ensure safety of its citizens, and reinforce economic and social stability.

He termed terrorism the biggest challenge to the country saying Pakistan was left with no choice but to crush this menace. “Our number one, number two and number three priorities are to crush terrorism while the economy, productivity and any personality come next,” he said.

He said when the PMLN government decided to root out terrorism in the country in 2014, the whole civilian and military leadership and religious leaders gathered in the same room. He said terrorism was eliminated root and branch in 2018 through a consensus plan and the whole international community was surprised as to how such a difficult task was realized.

“As many as 80,000 civilians and officials and jawans of security forces, law-enforcement agencies and police were martyred while the economy suffered a loss of 130 billion dollars,” he said. He, however, said everyone was right in asking as to why and how terrorism re-surfaced in the country and acts of terror were taking place in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We will have to show unity to address this. Without rooting out terrorism, the objectives of economic and political stability cannot be achieved,” he said. He regretted that the same international community that praised Pakistan for eliminating terrorism in 2018 was now making a mockery of the country due to the acts of terrorism happening every day.

Expressing satisfaction over the improved economic indicators, the prime minister also acknowledged the role of the army chief, national institutions and the federal cabinet in this regard. He mentioned that the country’s stock exchange had touched historic highs, while inflation had tumbled to single digits and the policy rate reduced from 22 percent to 15 percent.

He said a record increase had been witnessed in the IT exports, while remittances registered a significant surge. He also acknowledged the support extended by the provinces in securing the IMF program and was hopeful that it would be Pakistan’s last IMF programme. The prime minister emphasized the need for collective efforts to take the country forward on the path of development.

He also emphasized the need for broadening the tax net, plugging leakage and evasion of billions of rupees worth of taxes, circular debt and gas and power theft which would supplement the state kitty, ridding the country of foreign debts.

“All have to give a lending hand; it is not about you and me; it is about us. Then the country will move forward,” he said, adding that during the past eight months, there was no governance scam which reflected the strength of the government.

He thanked the chief ministers for their massive efforts and focus on the improvement of the economy, adding that the Punjab chief minister led with the agriculture sector reforms, while the KP chief minister also got similar legislation approved by his cabinet. The Sindh chief minister is also making sincere efforts.

Shehbaz regretted that despite the valuable mineral wealth and brilliant minds the country possessed, billions of rupees had been wasted on litigation over Reko Diq and Chiniot mineral reserves cases in the past. “We have to move in unison; though it may be a difficult task, no nation can emerge successful without unity,” he said and cited the examples of Japan and Germany which emerged stronger after the world wars.

Speaking on the calls for sit-ins, he said it would have to be decided to continue to stage sit-ins or work for the economic progress and prosperity of the country. “We will have to decide whether to continue staging sit-ins or collectively work for the economic progress of the country,” he said.

Noting that the SCO summit in Islamabad was highly successful, he pointed out that whenever there was an important occasion, calls for sit-ins were given. “If anybody wants to stage sit-ins, then the same can be scheduled on some other occasions,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir reiterated the military’s unwavering resolve to eliminate all threats to national security and provide robust support to the government’s initiatives aimed at ensuring peace and stability.

He maintained that all those hindering the country’s security will have to face the consequences. “Those becoming hurdle in the country’s security and attempts to stop them from fulfilling their duties in this regard will have to face the consequences,” he said, adding that all had to fight terrorism collectively. He said every Pakistani, whether in uniform or without was a soldier against terrorism.

“The country’s Constitution is supreme to us all and it makes it incumbent upon us to ensure internal and external security of the country. We all have to fight collectively the menace of terrorism,” he emphasized. At the same time, he said the military and law-enforcement institutions were removing the shortcomings in governance and were rendering sacrifices on a daily basis while fulfilling their responsibilities in this regard.