Kayani praises nation for defying ‘misguided minority’

Army chief proposes regional forum to counter homemade bombs.

ISLAMABAD:

The Taliban had vowed to sabotage the parliamentary elections because they believe Western democracy is un-Islamic. However, they failed to disrupt the elections which saw an unprecedented turnout.

Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said on Monday that the May 11 elections amply demonstrate that “as a nation we can withstand any challenge”.

“In these elections, the people of Pakistan courageously withstood the threat of terrorism and defied the unfounded dictates of an insignificant and misguided minority,” Gen Kayani said while addressing a day-long conference at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday.



The conference titled ‘Saving Lives by Jointly Defeating IEDs’ was attended by experts from several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Turkey.

The army chief also proposed a regional military forum to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have inflicted heavy casualties on US-led foreign forces fighting a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

The proposed counter-IED forum could go a long way in eliminating the threat posed by homemade bombs, if supported by the international community, he added.

Speaking at the event, experts from the US and Britain acknowledged Pakistan for taking concrete steps in recent months, towards stopping the smuggling of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), one of the main ingredients used in IEDs.



US officials claim that about 80% of the IEDs used in Afghanistan have homemade explosives as the main charge, and more than 80% of these are derived from CAN fertiliser produced in Pakistan.

However, Gen Kayani dispelled the impression that CAN smuggling was the sole stumbling block in eliminating the threat of homemade bombs.

“Production of CAN has come under national and international focus, to the extent of creating a perception that controlling CAN alone can remove the menace of IEDs. Our arguments against this singular perception were taken as unwillingness to act against IEDs,” he added.

However, CAN is only one of the precursors of IEDs, dozens of other are readily available. Moreover, Pakistan is not the only country producing CAN, other regional countries also produce CAN which has a higher degree of nitrogen content than what Pakistani CAN possesses, he said.

The army chief further said that ammonium nitrate, produced in certain regional countries, has 34% to 35% nitrogen content as opposed to 26% contained in what is produced in Pakistan. There is evidence that as Pakistan tightened the control on sale and distribution of CAN, terrorists simply switched to other precursors, like potassium chlorate, not produced in Pakistan, he argued.

Therefore, he said that the underlying complexity of the issue “forces us to adopt a multinational and holistic government approach.”

The army chief told the conference that contrary to prevalent perceptions, Pakistan had come a long way in fighting the IEDs threat during the past three years. “Pakistan has taken significant policy initiatives to counter IEDs. The Pakistan Army, aware of the seriousness of the threat, is leading the drive to create a pragmatic, cost-effective and efficient counter-IED strategy,” he said.

This strategy, he added, aims at creating awareness, assisting in legislation and adopting best practices from across the world to suitably equip and effectively train our forces. He added that the policy was meant to develop a proactive rather than reactive response to the threat at the national level.

Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Director for Operations/Intelligence Integration, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organisation USA, Brig Gen Roberts P Walters Jr concurred with Gen Kayani and praised Pakistani efforts to reinforce its border to curb fertiliser smuggling into Afghanistan. Walters praised Pakistani efforts to reinforce its border to curb fertiliser smuggling into Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2013.