No organised terrorist infrastructure exists in Pakistan today: DG ISPR

Director General ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar has said that no organised terrorist infrastructure exists in Pakistan today as the country fought successfully against the internal and external security challenges.

Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi, said Pakistan has witnessed a considerable decline in terror activities in the last 10 years and today he will talk about the security situation in the country.

In 2020 alone, locust attacks and coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic put Pakistan’s food security and economy in danger, he said.

On the other hand proscribed organisations were being facilitated to harm Pakistan on the western border, said Major General Babar Iftikhar.

“Despite all these challenges, the state, institutions, the armed forces and intelligence agencies and most importantly the people of Pakistan unitedly faced these challenges.”

The military spokesman said that that whether, it was India’s designs of hybrid warfare, whether challenges were internal or external, they were not only been identified but also been exposed.

“We successfully combatted them and the world is recognising it too because the truth always prevails," he added.

While sharing some measures taken in the security domain, Major General Iftikhar said that Operation Raddul Fasad had "consolidated the achievements of the entire decade"

Through this operation, the support base, facilitators, abettors, financiers [of terrorism] and weapons were destroyed to a large extent, he said.

“Thankfully, today in Pakistan there is no organised terrorist infrastructure like in the past."

Under ‘Operation Raddul Fasad’, 371,000 intelligence-based actions were conducted in the last three years, he said.

He mentioned that only 37 percent of the tribal areas were under state control in 2007-08. “Today, they have all become part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa."

There had been 35 percent reduction in major terrorism incidents in 2020 compared to 2019, the ISPR Chief told media, while adding that terror incidents which had hit an annual peak of 90 in the year 2013 had now fallen to around 30.

Furthermore he said that law enforcement agencies with averting 50 terrorists attacks in 2020. “Suicide attacks have gone down by 97%.”

Commenting on Karachi situation, he said that in 2014, the Sindh Capital was ranked number six on the Crime Index and now it is on 103. “In Karachi, terror attacks have reduced by 95%, target killings by 98%, extortions by 99%, and kidnappings by 98%,” he said.

He detailed that border-fencing along 2,611-kilometre-long Pakistan-Afghanistan border will be completed by the mid-2021, whereas, 37 per cent work on border fencing along Pakistan-Iran border so far which will be completed within one year.

Pakistan is trying to manage the situation at its western border by installing border terminals, biometric systems and fencing.

There has been a 55% decrease in bomb blasts near border areas, and IED blasts have gone down by 16%, said the military spokesperson.

However, he added that this has been coupled with an increase in tension alongside eastern border with India. Populated areas were also targeted by Indian border forces. Last year, we recorded 3,097 violations and 28 people were killed, he said.

The violations have increased from 2013 to 2020. The most violations were reported in 2013, while the most people died in 2018, he told the press.