DG ISPR warns appeasement of terrorism will never be tolerated

Spokesperson of Pakistan’s armed forces Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Friday said appeasement of terrorism would never be tolerated, adding that the state of Pakistan could not be left on the whims of one person.

Addressing the presser at the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar, the director-general (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reviewed the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and shed light on its provincial government’s opposing military operations against terrorists inside the province and demanding to hold talks instead.

“The Pakistan Armed Forces are determined to eliminate terrorism. We must all join hands to uproot this scourge,” he said, questioning if resolution of every issue lied in holding dialogue.

If negotiation was the solution for every problem then do you think it would have been right if Pakistan held talks with India after the latter attacked inside the country, the DG ISPR asked.

“When your forces go after terrorists, voices are heard of holding talks with them. We are confused through politics and misleading narratives are built on the matter of terrorism,” he said.

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Terrorists get support from local as well as foreign elements, the ISPR director general said. He said terrorists involved in cross-border attacks had a bastion and backing in Afghanistan.

Whereas, in the Doha agreement, it was decided that the Afghan soil will not be used against any state, he said.

The DG ISPR said India used Afghanistan as a base for operations against Pakistan. “Our demand to Afghanistan is that your soil must not be used for terrorism against Pakistan,” he said.

He also said Pakistan’s armed forces wiped out more than 900 terrorists this year in more than 10,000 intelligence based operations in KP. Whereas, 516 soldiers and citizens have been martyred this year, he added. The largest number of Kharjis were decimated in the last one decade and more than 30 suicide bombers hailed from Afghanistan, he said.

He added that Pakistani ministers also visited Afghanistan and conveyed that terrorist facilitators were operating from there.

Lt Gen Chaudhry asked if the current strength of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was 3,200, was enough.

The prevailing terrorism in KP was due to political and criminal nexus. Non-customs paid vehicles were used in terrorist attacks, which makes vehicle tracking impossible during attacks, he said. With smuggling terrorists would also infilterate, he warned, on consequences of smuggling.

“The gap of misgovernance is being filled with blood of our martyrs,” he said. Terrorists attacks were not taking place in Sindh and Punjab because governance was better there, he said.

The Pakistan’s military spokesperson said to protect the lives of the people of Pakistan, forces were doing everything and will continue to do, whatever was necessary.

The spokesperson of the Pakistan Army said that after the Army Public School (APS) tragedy, the National Action Plan (NAP) was formulated with complete consensus, under which it was decided to eliminate terrorist elements.

The revised NAP, however, was not being implemented in its true spirit, he said. There was a need to understand the factors behind terrorism, he said.

He said that the judicial system was supposed to be strengthened to combat terrorism, but no terrorist has been punished in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The spokesperson said, “You often ask why terrorism has not ended — in 2014 and 2021, it was decided that the police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) would be strengthened in the war against terrorism.”

He said that the status quo will no longer be acceptable. Any person or group facilitating the Kharijites (terrorists) due to compulsion or personal benefit has three options: either hand over the terrorists to the state, join hands with state institutions to eliminate this menace through anti-terrorism operations, or be prepared for state action as facilitators of terrorists, if they choose neither of the first two options, he said.

Lieutenant General Chaudhry reiterated that the Pakistan Army is taking all essential measures to safeguard the lives and property of the people, and there should be no doubt about that commitment.