ISLAMABAD - Civil and military leadership of the country once again reiterated to continue to ongoing onslaught against militants across the country till the elimination of the last terrorist from the soil of the motherland.
The huddle of civil and military leadership was held yesterday at the Prime Minister’s House under the chair of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The meeting in which host of issues relating to the security matters came under discussion mainly remained focused on the internal security, sources in the government informed The Nation.
Sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was concerned about the sporadic terror attacks across the country and stressed the need for plugging the loopholes in the security agencies working and enhance coordination among the intelligence agencies to proactively tackle the elements.
DG ISI Rizwan Akhtar and National Security Advisor Lt. Gen.(Retd) Nasser Khan Janjua briefed the participants on the internal security issues and the success of Pakistan Army in the ongoing military operation Zerb-e-Azb.
The meeting was also apprised about the Shawal operation wherein over two dozen terrorists were killed by the armed forces in the last 24 hours with which the difficult terrains in the hilly areas of Shawal have been cleared of the militants.
The participants were also briefed on the progress in the ongoing targeted operation in port city of Karachi and it was reiterated by the participants to take the operation to its logical end and hurdles coming in the ways of Rangers would be addressed in consultation with the provincial government.
The upcoming visit of Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also figured in the meeting and both the political and military leadership of the country reiterated its stance that any threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the kingdom would invoke strong reaction from Pakistan.
It was further agreed upon that Pakistan would fully participate in the Saudi led of 34-state alliance of Muslim countries to fight the menace of terrorism across the Islamic world, as Pakistan being the victim of the menace would share its experience of tackling the menace of terrorism with armies of other Muslim states.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Army Staff General Raheel Sharif would be embarking on three days visit to Saudi Arabia from today to witness the joint military exercises there and to have meetings with the civil and military leadership of the kingdom.
The participants of the meeting strongly condemned the cowardly act of terrorism in Shabqadar on March 7, 2016 in which civilians and law enforcement agency (LEA) personnel lost their precious lives.
The meeting agreed that elimination of terrorism from our soil is a national resolve and paid tributes to the personnel of Law Enforcement and Security Agencies who embraced martyrdom while fighting this menace of terrorism.
The meeting was attended by Ch Nisar Ali Khan, Minister for Interior, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Finance, General Raheel Sharif, Chief of Army Staff, Tariq Fatemi SAPM on Foreign Affairs, Lt Gen (R) Nasser Khan Janjua, National Security Advisor, Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, DG ISI, Aizaz Ahmed Ch Foreign Secretary and other senior officials of the government.