- COAS vows to continue “across the board” operations at increased tempo
- Meeting decides to implement effective policing and surveillance of Karachi suburbs
- No mercy to be shown to criminals, their abettors
At the conclusion of an hours-long apex committee meeting attended by senior Sindh government officials and army and intelligence top brass, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif on Thursday vowed to continue “across the board operations” at an “increased tempo” and hunt down terrorists who commit heinous acts.
Military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa announced that the meeting had assessed the ongoing operations against terrorists, and stressed upon intelligence agencies to assist in the “exploitation of existing leads” in all operations. The participants also agreed on holding weekly apex committee meetings to monitor the progress of the operations.
The high-level huddle also decided to implement effective policing and surveillance in the “vast suburbs of Karachi”, to prevent what the ISPR said were “sneaking terrorist attacks”. Bajwa said that all criminals and their abettors would be arrested regardless of their political, religious, sectarian, ethnic or other affiliations.
The spokesman also said a system was being devised for strict checking at all entry and exit points in the country, and that an internal subcommittee would allow for more effective civil-military cooperation in order to increase the efficiency of intelligence-based operations.
The participants of the meeting also agreed on the need to extend governance and increase presence of law enforcement agencies in areas of Karachi that are weakly governed spaces, and stressed on the need to investigate channels of funding for terrorists, militants and criminals.
The ISPR spokesman stressed the need for effective policing and surveillance in Karachi’s suburbs in order to prevent terrorist attacks.
There was also a need to appoint public sector officials transparently and on the basis of merit. An oversight mechanism was recommended for the sustainability of transparency in hiring practices.
The meeting was held a day after the horrific attack on a bus carrying Ismaili Shia community members in which 46 people were killed near Karachi’s Safoora Chowrangi.
According to the ISPR statement, the meeting was held to discuss the law and order situation in the country, especially Wednesday’s massacre on Ismaili community members.
The apex committee meeting was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, Inspector General (IG) Sindh Ghulam Hyder Jamali, chief secretary Sindh, Director General Military Intelligence (DGMI), Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Amir Riaz and Director General (DG) ISPR Major Gen Asim Bajwa.