Countering terrorism: General Raheel pledges to smash terror network

Army chief says stability returning to Pakistan due to military operations


Kashif Zafar/APP April 29, 2015
Army chief says stability returning to Pakistan due to military operations. PHOTO: FILE

BAHAWALPUR:


Army chief General Raheel Sharif has said that stability is returning to the country due to the military’s counterterrorism operations in the restive tribal regions.


The military had launched a massive operation, codenamed Zarb-e-Azb, in mid-June last year to smoke out terrorists from North Waziristan Agency, which had become a stronghold of homegrown militants and their foreign cohorts.

The militants were routed in the operation and some of them fled into Khyber Agency. Subsequently, the military mounted another offensive, codenamed Khyber-I, to flush out violent extremists from the strategic Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency. A marked decrease has been witnessed in Taliban violence since the launch of these operations.

Addressing officers at the Corps Headquarters in Bahawalpur on Tuesday, Gen Raheel vowed to effectively destroy the network of terrorists. Terrorists present in the tribal regions are being cut off from the rest of the country, he added. “[However] we cannot take focus away from targeting terrorism in Fata [and from] breaking their linkage in the rest of the country,” he said, according to the Twitter feed of the military’s chief spokesperson Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa.



The army chief expressed his resolve to bring Pakistan back on the road to peace and prosperity. He added that establishing a peaceful environment in and around Pakistan was a top priority.

While paying glowing tributes to the resilience, professionalism and sacrifices of army troops in the ongoing fight against terrorism, he said no challenge was insurmountable.

According to the ISPR statement, the army chief said the young generation was an asset to the country and efforts should be made to provide them with a peaceful environment. The youth should be encouraged in their endeavours, he added. “Let’s take Pakistan forward. Our greatest asset, [our] youth must be encouraged and honed,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2015.

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