Upshot of operation: Terrorists are fleeing from Karachi, says Interior Minister

Nisar says killings in the city have come down from an average of 17 to 1-3 a day.

ISLAMABAD:

The government on Thursday told the National Assembly that following the Karachi operation around 250 terrorists had fled to North Waziristan, but assured that criminals would not find a safe haven anywhere.

“The mop-up operation has not completed yet and terrorists are on the run and leaving Karachi. But let me assure you be it Karachi or any other place in Pakistan they [terrorists] won’t find a place to hide,” said Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Nisar clarified that the government had withdrawn the report of Mohajir Republican Army (MRA) as the intelligence reports did not have substantive evidence. The intelligence report did not establish the MLA’s link to any organisation, he added.

“It has no nexus with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) but I don’t know why it was taken that way,” Nisar added.



Chaudhry Nisar also shared some details of the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi.

“The operation started on federal government’s initiative. So give us credit of the fact that we are not taking credit of it on TV,” he said.

In the first phase, he said, Rangers had conducted around 400 and the police conducted over 1,000 raids and had arrested terrorists, target killers and kidnappers. “The operation is in its first phase and has achieved less than 10% of its targets. However it will be followed by two other phases,” he said.

Nisar said after the start of operation, killings in Karachi had come down from average 17 to 1-3 a day. “One day will come when there will not be a single killing,” he added, with a caveat that “ups and downs would come down the road.”

He said consensus of political parties over the Karachi operation was a must. “Those who will disrupt the process will expose themselves to the people of Pakistan,” he said.

Peace talks with Taliban

“The peace process [talks] has been jolted by the Upper Dir incident but don’t indulge yourselves in politicking and don’t give us proposals of ceasefire,” said Nisar.

It was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan who had called for ceasefire by the government as a goodwill gesture before starting negotiations. Imran had suggested that two sides – the government and Taliban – should declare ceasefire.

“Such proposals, given on a daily basis, will create a state of confusion,” Nisar said and urged that the government should be given some time. He also assured the house that the government would consult political parties and ensure the House’s ‘self respect, dignity and sovereignty.’

The interior minister also clarified that the process of talks had not been started recently but had been going on for several months. “The formal decision in this regard was taken during an All Parties Conference (APC) through adoption of a resolution,” he added.

Thanking the political leaders for their participation in the APC, Nisar said making statements about the process could ‘impact the APC resolution’.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2013.