Terror wave linked to safe havens in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate was told on Friday that the country is facing a new wave of terrorism with over 514 incidents of terrorism reported till July this year.

While sharing the figures, the interior ministry told the upper house that one of the causes of the surge in terror attacks was the presence of safe havens for local terrorist organisations in Afghanistan.

Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani presided over the Senate meeting.

According to a document presented in the Senate, 307 attacks took place in K-P from January 2022 to July 2022, 189 in Balochistan, 12 in Sindh and 3 in Islamabad and Punjab each. A total of 514 terrorist attacks took place this year till July.

The reasons for the increased terrorist activity given by the document included the presence of transnational terror organisations and local terror organisation safe havens in Afghanistan, as well as the fact that terror organisations on the western border of Pakistan were trying to enhance their outreach and activities.

The meeting was told that in the wake of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, terror organisations had gained sophisticated weaponry and machinery that increased their lethality and night operation capability.

The report also said that terror organisations are regrouping and reorganising themselves to gain a foothold in major cities of Pakistan

The recommendation policy suggestions and responses to counter the increase in terrorism included increasing intelligence operations, re-appraising the National Action Plan, completing border fencing and increasing border management.

The recommendations also included continuing the peace talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as well as engaging ‘disgruntled’ Balochi tribesmen for reconciliation.

PTI leaders stage walkout

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders staged a walkout to mark their protest against one of their own members, Fawad Chaudhry, for passing racist remarks against Pashtuns on a private TV channel.

While the opposition members in the Senate also protested by exiting the meeting, PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry issued an apology to all members on Fawad’s behalf.

The former information minister, during an interview with a private TV channel, had reacted to former DG FIA Bashir Memon’s statement about being locked in a bathroom upon the orders of then-premier Imran Khan.

Fawad said: “He took a big risk going into the bathroom with a Pathan," referring to then-principal secretary Azam Khan, who according to Memon's revelation, had grabbed his hand and locked him in a bathroom after a conflicting interaction with Imran Khan.

Read Minister's remarks prompt walkout in Senate

Fawad came under fire for his remarks and was also criticised by his own party leaders.

Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had earlier Dr Hisham Inamullah Khan questioned "why, if these are his views about Pashtuns, is Fawad a member of a party whose leader is himself ethnically Pashtun"?

He also demanded an apology from Fawad for hurting the sentiments of the Pashtuns.

Violence against teachers condemned

Meanwhile, the issue of police violence against teachers protesting for their rights in front of the K-P assembly in Peshawar also echoed in the upper house.

While raising the issue, Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said that the K-P government was “attacking the pen” and condemned the “worst violence against teachers”.

Subsequently, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani sought a report from K-P police.

During the meeting, Senator Raza Rabbani broached the subject of the ceasefire between the government and the TTP and said that the interior ministry has issued a terror alert. He said there was a threat of terrorism in the country and demanded that the matter be discussed extensively in the upper house.

Meanwhile, Shehzad Waseem, the opposition leader in the Senate, pointed out that despite the fact that there was a “fat and oversized cabinet”, no minister was present in the meeting to answer the opposition’s questions.

He warned that the “people are going to march on Islamabad” and the government will be asked whether it has taken any measures for the economy.

“What has been done for the flood victims? The government also has a hand in inflation and unemployment.”