The purge
The deadly terrorist attack in Lahore resulting in the death of at least 74 innocent people has led law enforcement agencies to launch an unprecedented operation against the terrorist networks in the province. While the Punjab government had maintained that it was capable of bringing the culprits to justice without the help of either the Rangers or the army, the COAS ordered all security and law enforcement agencies under military to initiate a province wide hunt of the terrorists and send their reports directly to him through the concerned corps commanders.
The two parallel intelligence based operations which kicked off soon after the terrorist attack on Sunday have resulted in large scale arrests and recovery of arms and ammunition. A number of wanted criminals have died in the encounters. The army initially concentrated on Central and South Punjab, launching five operations in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan. Raids in Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur, Layyah, Bhakkar, Rahimyar Khan and other districts in South Punjab have led to rounding up of dozens of suspects. Punjab police, assisted by the CTD, extended the search operations from major cities to small towns in the province which have resulted in the detention of 190 suspects for interrogation out of the 7,618 picked up over the past two days.
The operations are welcome as they indicate that both political and military leadership are united on the issue of dealing with the terrorists. It is also for the first time that an operation has been launched in South Punjab on this scale. Among other things, this will remove the perception that Punjab was being treated differently from other provinces. There is however a greater need on the part of both civilian and military intelligence agencies to conduct sustained intelligence gathering activity over the years. The tendency to initiate operations with fanfare after a major incident only to forget about them within days and weeks till another hair raising incident takes place, needs to be overcome.
The operations are welcome as they indicate that both political and military leadership are united on the issue of dealing with the terrorists……..
This editorial is childishly twisting the truth; the political leadership was dead against military operations in Punjab; they had issued statements that there were no terrorist outfits in Punjab hence there was no need for calling the rangers.
After the Lahore attack, the army had no option but to act in the interest of security, they launched the operation ignoring the persistent resistance by politics of vested interest making a mockery of national security needs. In order to save face, the PML-N politicos swallowed the bitter pill and decide to join the operation. A military boot at the political backside works wonders for the people's interest.
Enjoyed every bit of your post.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
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