Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif clarified on Tuesday that Operation Azm-e-Istehkam was not a large-scale military operation but a “multi-domain, multi-agency and whole of system national vision” aimed at rooting out remnants of terrorists, and violent extremism.
He made these remarks while presiding over a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad.
The premier took his cabinet into confidence about the “misunderstanding and speculations” surrounding the counterterrorism operation, saying that instead of any large-scale operation, the already ongoing intelligence-based operations (IBOs) would be energised.
The clarification comes after PM Shehbaz approved a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign with the consensus of all stakeholders including provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
“Azm-e-Istehkam will integrate and synergise multiple lines of effort to combat the menaces of extremism and terrorism in a comprehensive and decisive manner,” said a statement issued after the Central Apex Committee on National Action Plan in Islamabad.
But opposition parties expressed concerns over the operation and called for taking parliament into confidence before taking any such decision.
Amidst the opposition’s reservations, the PM Office clarified on Monday that the operation was aimed at reinvigorating and re-energising the ongoing implementation of the revised National Action Plan (NAP).
The previous kinetic operations were conducted to physically dislodge terrorists from their known locations which had become no-go areas and compromised the writ of the state.
Earlier today, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif assured the nation that Azm-e-Istehkam was “solely focused on eradicating terrorism” and had no political motives. At a press conference in Lahore, he assured that the concerns of PTI and JUI regarding the operation would be addressed.
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