Apex Committee meeting: no other choice but to crush terrorists, says PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday acknowledged an uptick in terrorist attacks, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces, as he vowed to crush the terrorist elements for peace and progress of the country.

The development comes as the prime minister chaired a meeting of the Federal Apex Committee of the National Action Plan on Tuesday.

The agenda of the meeting focused on “Reinvigorating Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism (CT) Campaign”.

The meeting was briefed on the evolving security landscape and the measures being taken to counter terrorism and other critical challenges, including general law and order situation.

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It also discussed actions against efforts to stoke sub-nationalism, religious extremism, tackling the illegal spectrum & crime-terror nexus, and subversion and disinformation campaigns, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister Office (PMO).

Addressing the Apex meeting, the premier termed terrorism as the huge challenge for Pakistan.

“We have no other choice, but to crush the terrorist elements for peace and progress of the country,” he said.

The committee approved a comprehensive military operation against terrorist organisations operating in Balochistan including the Majeed Brigade, BLA, BLF and BRAS who are targeting innocent civilians and foreign nationals to scuttle Pakistan’s economic progress by creating insecurity at the behest of hostile external powers, the PMO statement read.

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The prime minister said economic and political stability in the country were interrelated with each other and no society could aspire to progress with these two factors.

“It is imperative for the economic and political stability that all the leadership should play their due role,” he added.

He also thanked the provincial governments for their support in getting the approval of IMF programme, adding that all the provincial chief ministers had fully supported it.

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PM Shehbaz also emphasised upon the need of broadening the tax net, besides overcoming the issues of leakage and evasion of billion rupees taxes, circular debt, gas and power theft which would supplement the national coffer, thus getting rid of the foreign debts.

“All have to give lending hands; it is not about you and me; it is about us. Then the country will move forward,” he said.

According to the PMO, the committee highlighted the necessity of a unified political voice and a cohesive national narrative to effectively address the multifaceted challenges.

It was emphasised that political support across party lines and complete national consensus were critical to reinvigorating the national CT campaign under the framework of Vision Azm-e-Istehkam.

Revitalisation of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and the establishment of National and Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Centre were also agreed upon.

“A whole-of-system approach was adopted, incorporating diplomatic, political, informational, intelligence, socio-economic, and military efforts to address these issues comprehensively,” the PMO statement read.

It was also decided to establish District Coordination Committees under the provincial Apex Committees to ensure implementation of directions received from federal and provincial governments.

‘Politics of sit-ins not in national interest’

Without mentioning the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) call for a protest in Islamabad, the prime minister said the politics of sit-in was not in the national interest.

“We have to choose between staging sit-ins or long marches or work for the country’s progress,” he said.

It my be noted that PTI founder Imran Khan has made a “final call” for a large-scale anti-government march to Islamabad on November 24.

On Tuesday, Khan asked his party leaders to ensure their participation in the protest in Islamabad or “disassociate themselves from the party”, according to a post on Khan’s official X account.

“Everyone must join the protest on November 24th. If any PTI leader or ticket holder is not able to ensure their participation in the protest, they should disassociate themselves from the party because this is the decisive moment when the entire nation will come out for freedom. The nation will not accept any excuse at such a critical time,” the post read.

‘Every Pakistani a soldier’

The Apex committee meeting was attended by the federal cabinet, provincial chief ministers, General Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), Chief of Army Staff (COAS), and senior government officials.

Speaking on the occasion, the COAS underlined the need for collective efforts in fight against terrorism.

“Whoever obstructs the country’s security and prevents us from doing our job, will have to face the severe consequences,” he emphasised.

“In war against terrorism, every Pakistani is a soldier—some in uniform and some without it.”

The COAS said Pakistan Army and law enforcement agencies were overcoming the weaknesses in the governance by rendering sacrifices on daily basis.