Nation united to defeat elements creating disharmony: PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that the entire nation was united to defeat the menace of terrorism and the nefarious designs of terrorists to destabilise the country would never succeed.

The premier made these remarks while chairing a meeting of the Apex Committee on National Action Plan (NAP) in Islamabad, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

The meeting took place two days after at least 63 people were killed and nearly 200 others injured in a suicide attack at an Imambargah in Peshawar's Kocha Risaldar area during Friday prayers. The Islamic State in a statement claimed responsibility for the deadly bomb blast.

Today's meeting, among others, was attended by National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yousaf, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, chief ministers of all four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan, chief secretaries, inspector generals of police and other senior civil and military officers.

Also read: 57 dead, 200 injured in Peshawar’s imambargah attack

The apex committee strongly condemned the attack and offered condolences for the martyrs who lost their lives in the incident.

Addressing the participants, PM Imran said people could now realise that terrorist elements were trying to create disharmony on the basis of sectarianism and hate speech, but the state will never allow such designs to succeed.

He reiterated that the government had zero tolerance for terrorists and swift persecution was required to set an example out of the elements.

The premier stressed that a multi-pronged approach, full spectrum and vigorous implementation of NAP was also necessary to thwart the threat of terrorism, and stressed upon taking proactive measures to tackle such incidents in future.

The committee stressed upon the need to strengthen the role of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) to coordinate the measures essential for countering terrorism and build the capacity of the counter terrorism departments.

It was also highlighted during the meeting that provinces need to allocate more resources for conducting effective investigations by adopting scientific techniques and setting up modern forensic labs. The need to accord conclusive end to terrorism cases in courts of law was emphasised.

Also read: UNSC denounces Peshawar imambargah attack

On the occasion, Secretary Interior Division presented a detailed briefing on the implementation status of NAP including measures taken to choke terror financing, countering violent extremism, investigation and prosecution of terrorism cases, intolerance towards militancy, capacity building of law enforcement agencies, regulation and registration of seminaries, merger of formerly FATA areas, reforms in criminal justice system, eliminating sectarian terrorism, curbing smuggling, narco-traffic and human trafficking, reconciliation process in Balochistan and issues related to refugees.

The meeting was briefed that satisfactory implementation has been achieved on majority action points, however, support from provincial governments is required for inter-provincial issues.

Federal Ministers including Fawad Chaudhry, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Asad Umer were also present in the meeting.