THE Federal Apex Committee of the National Action Plan on Tuesday approved a comprehensive military operation against terrorist organizations operating in Balochistan and targeting civilians and foreign nationals to hamper the country’s economic progress by creating insecurity at the “behest of hostile external powers”. Its meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who acknowledged the rise in terrorist attacks, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), and pledged to take decisive action against terrorist elements to ensure the peace and progress of Pakistan. Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir, who also attended the crucial session of the Committee, issued a stern warning that anyone who obstructs national security or hinders the military’s operations will face consequences.
The Government and the security forces exercised extreme restraint in the face of a sudden surge in terrorism activities claiming heavy toll both on life and economy but they have been forced to launch an intensified operation in Balochistan in the face of dare-devil attacks by some terror outfits. It was because of this that the official press release issued after the meeting specifically mentioned terror outfits like BLA, Majeed Brigade, Balochistan Liberation Front and Balochistan Raaji Ajoi-R-Sangar that will be targeted during the operation. Military operations are avoided because of their ramifications but the authorities were left with no option but to go for a comprehensive counter-terrorism campaign as terrorists, backed by some foreign countries, are targeting innocent people, foreign nationals including Chinese and developmental projects in different parts of the province. The decision was taken after brainstorming as the participants were briefed on the evolving security landscape and the measures being taken to counter terrorism and other critical challenges, including general law and order situation, actions against efforts to stoke sub-nationalism, religious extremism, tackling the illegal spectrum and crime-terror nexus, subversion and disinformation campaigns, among other issues. As some lobbies have been unleashing propaganda campaign to malign the defence forces that are sacrificing their lives for the cause of safety and security of people and their properties, the meeting underscored the need for political support across the party lines and complete national consensus, which were critical to reinvigorating the national counter-terrorism campaign under the framework of vision Azm-e-Istehkam. We hope the political leadership of the province will take a lead in this regard to counter propaganda of vested interests. The timing of the resurgence in terrorism in Balochistan should serve as an eye-opener for people of the province as terrorists have become active when concrete programmes have been initiated by the Government and the SIFC to attract investment for all-round development of the province. Apart from China, some Gulf countries are coming in a big way to collaborate on plans and programmes aimed at bringing different regions of Balochistan at par with other parts of the country. In this backdrop, a whole-of-system approach was adopted, incorporating diplomatic, political, informational, intelligence, socio-economic and military efforts to address issues comprehensively. It was decided to establish district coordination committees under the Provincial Apex Committees to ensure the implementation of directions received from federal and provincial governments. This bottom-up approach has the potential to pay dividends if local elected leaders and notables are also made part of the efforts to eliminate terrorists. The forum also demonstrated political resolve to dismantle the ecosystem of illegal spectrum and crime-terror nexus. It may also be pointed out that the situation in KP is as bad as in Balochistan as terrorists are targeting security personnel more frequently. As the apex committee was deliberating on the situation in Balochistan, terrorists carried out attacks resulting in martyrdom of eighteen soldiers in two different incidents in KP. The enormity of the menace demands focused attention of the federal and provincial governments and diplomatic pressure on authorities in Kabul, whose attitude is mainly to be blamed for a spike in terror attacks.
