Operation Azm-e-Istehkam not political but national security effort: Asif

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Tuesday that “Operation Azm-e-Istehkam is not a political but a national security effort”.

Addressing a media conference, the minister said terrorism is a national crisis and every institution should support Operation Azm-e-Istehkam.

“If the operation is not supported then it will not be as effective as it should be,” he said.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur also attended the Apex Committee meeting in which which Azm-e-Istehkam was approved and had not raised any objections.

“There are no political aims of this operation. We only want to challenge and end the rising wave of terrorism ongoing since the past few months,” he added.

Last week, the Apex Committee of National Action Plan (NAP), chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, approved the launch of “Operation Azm-e-Istehkam” to eliminate terrorism and extremism across the country.

However, the approval by the PM met with intense criticism of the government’s plans to launch military action without consulting parliament.

The KPK minister even denied that any such thing was discussed with him during the apex meeting.

Azm-e-Istehkam will integrate and synergize multiple lines of effort to combat the menaces of extremism and terrorism comprehensively and decisively.

In the politico-diplomatic domain, efforts will be intensified to curtail the operational space for terrorists through regional cooperation.