National Action Plan plugged terror funding: Bajwa

National Action Plan proving effective in cutting the funding of terrorist groups operating in the country

The director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, said the National Action Plan (NAP) was proving effective in cutting the funding of terrorist groups operating in the country.

“One of the biggest achievements of the plan was the physical operations in FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas], intelligence-based operations and choking of the funding of terrorist groups,” he told a Russian magazine Sputnik.

He noted that while some parts of the NAP have already been initiated, other aspects require more time due to political challenges.

The NAP was introduced following the December 16, 2014 deadly terror rampage at the Army Public School in Peshawar that killed over 150 students and staff. The same month the government also lifted its death penalty moratorium for those convicted of terrorism.

In 2015, the government established the NAP to crack down on terrorism and to supplement the ongoing anti-terrorist offensive with long-term measures against extremism.

The NAP includes terrorism funding prevention measures, reforms in the criminal justice sector and the build-up of law enforcement agencies’ capacity.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2015.