New force: CM attends Riverine Force graduation

Says it has been set up to combat anti-social and criminal elements

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday attended a ceremony held to honour graduates of the Punjab Riverine Police Force and the National Integrated Counter Terrorism Course.

He gave medals to soldiers and police officials who had showed outstanding performance and congratulated others for successful completion of the course.

He said that the Riverine Police Force had been set up to combat anti-social and criminal elements. He said the provincial government had made a request to Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif in 2015 to extend support for the establishment of the force. He said experts from Pakistan Army had overseen training of Riverine Force officials. He said after witnessing the determination of the National Integrated Counter Terrorism Force and the Punjab Riverine Police Force he was confident that the day was not far when terrorists would be defeated and Pakistan would once again be known the world over as a peaceful country.

Sharif said that Pakistan would soon achieve the dignified status envisioned for it by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal. The chief minister said the nation was united in the war against terrorism. He said officers and jawans of the Army, Rangers, police, civil bureaucracy and politicians were on the same page in this regard. He said they would not shy away from rendering sacrifices for the cause. “It is a war for the country’s survival. We have no option but to win the war,” he said. He said Armed Forces personnel had shown exemplary courage and valour in Operation Zarb-i-Azab. He said countries all over the world had acknowledged their sacrifices.

Earlier, the chief minister monitored training exercises and praised the high standards of training. He was presented a souvenir by Corps Commander I Corps Mangla Lt Gener Umar Farooq Durrani.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2016.