NACTA ‘will soon have’ joint intelligence directorate

Decision likely as authority’s board of governors meets on September 25

ISLAMABAD: The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) will soon have a full-fledged joint intelligence directorate (JID) and a decision to this effect is likely to be taken by the authority’s board of governors this week.

Nacta’s board of governors, likely to meet on September 25, is expected to take a decision in this regard among other major initiatives, sources told The Express Tribune.

It is learnt that the JID would be headed by a serving brigadier of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and include other high-ranking senior personnel of the Pakistan Army.



According to sources, during the board of governors’ meeting, to be headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan, approval would also be given for JID’s official building.

The board of governors is also likely to approve the hiring of JID personnel in BPS-1 to BPS-19, said the sources, adding that the meeting was also likely to approve the hiring of 300 employees in Nacta in the same pay scales.

At the moment the authority is facing an acute staff shortage.

For the past several years, the formation of JID in Nacta remained a distant dream.

The PML-N, which remained in power for five years, did make some attempts in this regard but the goal remained unrealised.

The JID’s main purpose is to create a joint intelligence-sharing platform, besides increasing intra-agency collaboration for curbing terrorism.



Since the formation of Nacta in 2009, no meeting of the board of governors was held because of several reasons, including the issue of formation of the anti-terrorism watchdog’s board of governors.

Nacta will be restructured in the wake of the meeting of the board of governors.

In addition to the prime minister, other members of the board of governors include chief ministers of all provinces, inspectors-general of all provinces, all provincial home ministers and home secretaries, and federal interior secretary.

According to the sources, directors-general of all intelligence agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and ISI, are also likely to participate in the meeting.

Among other key decisions, Nacta’s board of directors is likely to approve the formation of the executive body of the authority, headed by interior minister.

Subsequently, the executive body would head the annual meeting of the board of governors contrary to the current arrangements in which only the prime minister could chair a meeting of the board of governors.