Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday that the ongoing military offensive Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) has inflicted a fatal blow to militants, giving a go ahead to initiate rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the north-western tribal areas once the areas are completely cleared of terrorists.
The decision was taken during a high level security meeting chaired by the premier in wake of the “successful completion” of targeted operation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a day after the army gave a go ahead to civilian authorities to start the phased return of over one million IDPs to NWA.
As per details from the PM House, a comprehensive strategy for the rehabilitation of IDPs and reconstruction in the military operation-hit areas was presented and reviewed.
During the meeting, Pakistan Army’s Director General Military Operation (DGMO) Major General Amir Riaz gave a detailed presentation on the prevailing situation.
The PM reiterated that IDPs have given great sacrifices for the stability of Pakistan and the state will look after their needs.
“We will reconstruct a better area for IDPs when they return,” he said.
“Pakistan Army has given exemplary sacrifices in this operation,” the premier said.
The meeting was attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Minister General Qadir Baloch, and PM’s advisors Sartaj Aziz and Tariq Fatemi.
Thousands of families have flocked to refugee camps in Bannu since June after the Pakistan Army launched Operation Zarb-e-Azb to eliminate Pakistani Taliban terrorists from their stronghold in North Waziristan Agency (NWA).
Later in October, Pakistan’s military launched Operation Khyber-1 with air strikes against Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) hideouts in Khyber Agency under the Mangal Bagh-led group’s control in Tirah and Bara areas.
The operations, involving air strikes, tanks and heavy artillery, have forced a mass exodus from the region and have left hundreds of thousands homeless.