ISLAMABAD – The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved Azm-e-Istehkam Operation followed its endorsement by the National Action Plan’s Apex Committee, the sources familiar with the development said on Tuesday.
The sources said that the Prime Minister stated during the cabinet meeting that there are ambiguities and speculations regarding Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, but clarified that this operation is different from previous ones.
“It will be an intelligence-based operation with no relocations involved,” said the sources.
The PM, they said, emphasized that this is a continuation of the National Action Plan and would proceed accordingly.
He said that the public would not face any inconvenience during Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, nor would there be any intrusive actions in people’s homes. The operation, he said, would solely target disruptive elements through intelligence-based actions.
Earlier in the day, the recently announced vision for enduring stability named Azm-e-Istehkam is being misunderstood and compared with earlier launched Kinetic operations like Zarb-e-Azab and Rah-e-Najaat.
According to Prime Minister Office, 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. These operations required mass displacement of the local population and systematic clearance of affected areas.
There are no such No-Go areas in the country since the ability of terrorist entities to or carry out large scale organized operations inside Pakistan was decisively degraded by earlier Kinetic operations.
The statement said that no large scale military operation is being contemplated where displacement of population will be required.
