Shawal visit: Army chief vows to expose all terror abettors

Says no one will be allowed to harm people of Pakistan


Our Correspondent August 28, 2015
COAS meets soldiers posted in Shawal Valley. PHOTO: APP

ISLAMABAD:


Army chief General Raheel Sharif on Thursday vowed to expose the faces of all those who helped terrorists at any stage and said the country would not allow anyone to kill “our people and children”.


He made the remarks during a visit to the Shawal Valley of North Waziristan where the final phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb is currently under way. The army launched a ground offensive in the valley last week after weeks of air strikes to soften the targets.

According to the Inter- Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army chief directed the troops to clear all hideouts and reduce ‘isolated terrorists to their size.’ He also ordered the severing of terrorists’ links with their abettors anywhere.

“We won’t allow anyone to kill our people and children in this country. We will expose all faces who helped them at any stage in any way,” Gen Raheel was quoted by ISPR Director General Maj-Gen Asim Bajwa as saying.

“With our accomplishments, the Pakistan Army has no parallel in the success rate in the war against terrorism,” the army chief said, lauding the ‘extraordinary achievements’ of military and security forces in the ongoing operations against terrorists.

Gen Raheel appreciated the ‘inspiring morale of troops’ and acknowledged their gains in the operations. “Heights in the Shawal Valley have been cleared of terrorists and main features have been occupied,” he said adding that the valley was now being ‘sanitised’.

The army chief was informed that 203 militants had been killed in the ongoing operation in Shawal so far.

Since May, the military has stepped up operations in the deeply forested ravines of the Shawal Valley, which straddles North and South Waziristan agencies along the border with Afghanistan. The ravines of Shawal Valley and Datta Khel serve as popular smuggling routes between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, and are dotted with militant bases used as launch pads for attacks on Pakistani forces.

The area is a stronghold of Khan Said Sajna, the leader of a Taliban faction whose name the United States put on a sanctions list of ‘specially designated global terrorists” last year.

The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan used to control the mountainous part of North Waziristan, which includes the Shawal Valley and Datta Khel, and runs along the Afghan border.  But Pakistan Army recaptured most of the region in Operation Zarb-e-Azb, which was launched in June last year.

North Waziristan used to be the Pakistani Taliban’s last key stronghold until the start of the operation. Officials claim that nearly 3,000 militants have been killed since the launch of the offensive. Authorities have now vowed to intensify operations both in the border regions and across the country.


Published in The Express Tribune, August 28th, 2015.

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