- Sharif says difficult decisions have to be made
- Balochistan Apex Committee decides to strictly monitor borders to improve law and order situation
- 53 terrorism cases sent for trial in military courts, says Balochistan CS
Chairing a meeting of Balochistan Apex Committee at Governor’s House to review implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) and law and order situation in the province, after his arrival in Quetta Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed all the provinces to speed up the implementation on NAP and produce “practical results” against terrorism.
Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik, former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, senior provincial minister Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, federal ministers Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and Quetta Corps Commander Lt General Nasir Janjua, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG Maj Gen Asim Bajwa and high ranking officials attended the meeting.
Addressing the meeting, the prime minister said that difficult decisions have to be made and the government has the responsibility to enforce and implement NAP which was formulated with consensus of the political and military leadership.
The premier said that as an implementation process, 21st Constitutional Amendment was passed and Army Act amended within few days. It was decided in the meeting to increase the pace of implementation of NAP.
The prime minister assured the Balochistan government of his cooperation in the implementation of the plan. According to reports, the apex committee decided to strictly monitor borders to improve law and order situation in the province.
The meeting also reviewed all the cases forwarded to special trial courts in Balochistan. Authorities have also suggested conducting targeted operation against extremists in the province.
Addressing on the occasion, Balochistan chief minister said that priority of the provincial government was to improve law and order situation and said funds were being provided for capacity building of police. He said a counter-terrorism department had been set up, however pointed that it needed to be strengthened.
Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani briefed the participants of the meeting over the implementation of the NAP and overall law and order situation in Balochistan, according to sources in the Governor’s House.
Durrani informed the meeting that the Balochistan government has referred 53 cases of terrorism to military courts for trial. He stated that more than 2,000 suspects were apprehended by law enforcement agencies since the launching of the NAP in December 2014.
Security has been tightened in and around Quetta after the arrival of the country’s top civilian and military leadership. Besides police, FC personnel have been deployed at all sensitive locations of Quetta to ensure peace.
In this regard 80,000 unregistered cellular SIMS had been blocked in the province, the chief secretary said. The provincial government also conveyed its reservations about the use of SIMS from Afghanistan working within Pakistan.