COAS Gen Raheel Shareef chairs the corps’ commanders meeting at the GHQ. PHOTO: INP
The military brass cautioned on Friday the ongoing Yemen conflict would have ‘serious implications’ on regional security.
The warning came during a corps commanders’ meeting presided over by army chief General Raheel Sharif to discuss the worsening crisis in Yemen. The meeting coincided with a unanimous parliamentary resolution, calling on the government to stay away from the Saudi-led military coalition against Houthi rebels.
“With regard to the Yemen conflict, the forum deliberated at length on the gravity of the situation and stressed that continuation of the conflict will have serious implications for regional security,” reads a statement issued by the military’s media wing, the ISPR.
While the statement did not provide further details, defence sources told The Express Tribune that the military commanders agreed Pakistan
should follow a cautious approach and make efforts for a peaceful solution instead of joining the battleground.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have longstanding defence and security cooperation and Islamabad has deployed troops in the kingdom in the past. But the complexity of the current crisis in Yemen as well as its huge repercussions has compelled the policymakers to avoid getting embroiled in the conflict militarily.
Zarb-e-Azb
According to the ISPR statement, the corps commanders also discussed the internal security situation, including the ongoing military offensives against terrorists in the tribal areas.
Gen Raheel expressed his complete satisfaction on the results achieved by Zarb-e-Azb, the ongoing military operation in Khyber Agency. He directed the commanders to focus on achieving the end objective of total elimination of terrorism from across the country by coordinating with law-enforcement and other government agencies.
“Intelligence-based operations must be intensified to unearth terrorist sleeper cells and to apprehend hiding terrorists and their abettors from urban centres as well,” Gen Raheel said.
Appreciating the effects of intelligence operations and the improving security situation, he emphasised the need to concentrate on eliminating extremism from the society.
The army chief also expressed satisfaction over the return of displaced families in Fata and directed all the officers concerned to make their return easier. “The eventual purpose of these operations is to ensure stability leading to normalcy and prosperity in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Fata,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2015.
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