BY SAUD KHAN
PESHAWAR : The apex committee huddle on Friday vowed to conduct intelligence-based operations and holding unfiltered talks with Afghanistan to tackle the fresh wave of terrorism that had engulfed the country.
The meeting had been called at the KP Governor House days after a suicide bomber targeted worshippers in a mosque of the Peshawar Police Lines – one of the highly-fortified zones – killing over 100 people and injuring more than 200 others. It was attended by KP’s caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Punjab’s interim CM Mohsin Naqvi, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, and officials of intelligence agencies.
Sources told that the committee decided to send a diplomatic mission to Afghanistan to hold talks with the Taliban-led Afghanistan administration. “The mission will produce evidence of terrorism activities being conducted by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Pakistan before the Afghan administration”, sources added.
The meeting also reviewed the possibility of revitalizing military courts and the proposal of reactivation of the courts would be deliberated at all parties conference (APC) called by the PM on Feb 7. The political administration vowed to stand by the armed forces through their struggle to eradicate terrorism.
The session approved the proposals of upgrading police, couter-terrorism department (CTD), and National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta). Along with that, the establishment of CTD headquarter, a forensic lab, a safe city project and expansion of horizon of the CTD in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were also given assent. Apart from that, border management control and immigration system were also taken into account beside reviewing prosecuting and penalizing the terrorists.
The premier called for national unity by setting aside differences to tackle the menace of terrorism as the country recently witnessed one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s capital Peshawar amid new wave of terrorism sparked since November last.
Expressing solidarity with the families of the victims of the Jan 30 suicide blast in Peshawar, the premier said every stakeholder should play its role to eradicate the menace of terrorism. Mr Sharif said political, social and religious leadership was united for eliminating the menace of terrorism from the country, adding: “We will continue to fight until eradication of terrorism in the country”.
