Govt resolves to continue crackdown against terrorists

Information minister says there should be no politics on tragic Quetta blast

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has expressed resolve to continue crackdown against terrorists under the National Action Plan (NAP) to eventually eliminate the menace from the country.

“Full implementation of NAP is the yardstick to overcome incidents of terrorism and civil and military leadership have unanimous view on the NAP implementation,” said Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry while briefing media on decisions of the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

He said the government is quickly implementing NAP and the day is not far off when the scourge will be eradicated from the country. “External factors are involved in terrorist incidents in the country, and the government is close to destroying that network completely,” he added.



He said the cabinet offered Fateha for the people who were martyred in the last week’s Quetta attack.

He said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari may not know but during the PPP rule the incidents of terrorism were quite common which now have been controlled to a great extent. “Quetta incident was tragic, but there should be no politics on the issue,” he added.

The minister said after thorough debate on Assets Declaration Scheme, it was noted that there is a need of further discussion and the prime minister has summoned a special meeting on Wednesday (Today). The cabinet members, who intend to give their input, would attend the meeting.

He said proposals are under consideration to enhance capacity of the Auditor General office.  “The issue of renewal of telecommunications licenses was also discussed in the cabinet meeting,” he said.



The minister said the cabinet gave three-month extension to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Amir Ali Ahmed. The cabinet also gave approval to a proposal for appointment of Dr Amir as chairman of the Evacuee Trust.

He said the cabinet green-lighted appointment of the new chairman of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC). “There is no plan to reshuffle the cabinet and when there would be any change in portfolios, the PM Office would make a formal announcement in that regard,” he said.