PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reiterated his call for improved relations with Afghanistan but emphasized that the administration in Kabul must rein in Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) first. Addressing a meeting of the Federal Cabinet, he said Afghanistan was Pakistan’s “brotherly neighbour”, and that it was Islamabad’s heartfelt wish to improve relations with Kabul, especially with regards to the economy and trade. The Prime Minister, however, pointed out that unfortunately, the TTP is operating from Afghanistan and carrying out terror attacks and killing innocent people inside Pakistan, adding this cannot go on.
The remarks of the Prime Minister underline the sincere desire of Pakistan to have good neighbourly ties with Afghanistan but the TTP issue has become a sour point for the otherwise closest relationship. What the PM said was also substantiated by facts and figures by Lt. General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhary, Director-General, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) during his wide-ranging media interaction the same day. In the backdrop of a surge in terrorist activities in Pakistan ever since the TTP broke a ceasefire agreement with the Government, the Army spokesman categorically stated that all evidence related to terrorism can be traced back to the safe havens enjoyed by terrorists in Afghanistan. He asserted that the Army Chief has a clear and straight-forward stance on this: that Pakistan has reservations on banned organizations’ sanctuaries, support and unrestrained activities on Afghan territory. The spokesman also confirmed that the issue of anti-Pakistan activities by the TTP elements and other terrorist outfits from Afghan soil was repeatedly raised with the Afghan interim government but so far there was no satisfactory response from the other side. In apparent reference to reports about Pakistan air strikes against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif said Pakistan fully respected Afghanistan’s sovereignty but they too should not give terrorists precedence over Pakistan.
The ISPR DG, highlighting the defence forces’ prolonged and continued battle against terrorism, noted that the outgoing year has witnessed the highest number of terrorists eliminated compared to the past five years. The magnitude of this unconventional war can be gauged by the fact that 59,779 intelligence-based operations were carried out against terrorists during the past year alone. During these operations, 925 terrorists, including Khawarij, were killed and several others were arrested. This was the biggest number of terrorists killed in a single year during the past 5 years. During various operations, a significant quantity of weapons was recovered from terrorist hideouts, demonstrating the scale of the threat and the success of counter-terrorism efforts. Several high-profile terrorists were neutralized in these operations, marking a critical achievement in the fight against extremism. Apart from the intensified crackdown against terrorists, repatriation of Afghan nationals living in Pakistan illegally is also underway and so far 815,000 have been sent back to their country.
Despite stiff opposition by the Afghan government, Pakistan is pursuing the Western Border Management Regime and its completion will, hopefully, play a significant role formalizing the border and mitigating the threat of illegal crossings and also rampant smuggling. The confirmation of the DG, ISPR that the Pakistan Army was still extending its support to check smuggling and overcome the challenges of electricity theft, hoarding and the menace of drugs conveys a message that campaigns against these evils will not be abandoned midway. His presser also made it absolutely clear that despite its massive engagement in the war against terror, the Pakistan Army was also fully alert to thwart Indian designs against the country. It was reassuring to hear from him that the Pakistan Army possesses full ability to counter any aggression from India. All this shows that our defence forces are fully alive to the threats to the security of the country and capable of delivering given complete backing of the nation.
