Defence Minister Khawaja Asif asserted there was a dire need for national consensus against terrorism across the country — similar how it was during operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014 — after a Peshawar mosque suicide bomb attack left at least 100 lives and injured over 220 people.
The defence minister, speaking during a National Assembly session, said the tragedy of the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar — which occurred in December 2014 — was still fresh in people’s minds and yet another gruelling incident of terrorism happened in the country.
“A successful war was fought against terrorism from 2010 to 2017,” the federal minister said, adding that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led government, which was ruled from 2013-2018, “eliminated” the menace of terrorism.
“Several APS-like incidents occurred in KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa],” Asif said, adding that the terrorism engulfed numerous precious lives.
Referring banned terror organisations, the defence minister said that the house was told around two years ago that “these people” could be negotiated but any conclusive decision could not be made on the matter.
He came down hard on Imran Khan-led government for its instance of dialogue with the proscribed outfits.
“Following the Afghan war, thousands of the people were settled in Pakistan,” he added.
Stressing the need for national unity, the minister said that “we sowed the seeds of terrorism ourselves”.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, while briefing the lower house of parliament regarding the Peshawar attack, said that the rescue operation had been completed and all the debris from the site had been lifted.
He added that the Khorasani group of Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) claimed responsibility for the brutal suicide attack.
