About time we get our act together!

• Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif calls for ‘seamless coordination’ between federal and provincial governments and security agencies, as Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif orders army’s top brass and intelligence agencies to further intensify combing and targeted ops against terrorists
• PM reviews internal security situation, says ‘we are in a state of war with an ideology that wants to change our way of life’

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday called for seamless coordination between law enforcement agencies and the federal and provincial governments to achieve optimum results against extremism and terrorism, as Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif directed his corps commanders and intelligence apparatus to further intensify combing and targeted operations with the aim to eliminate terrorists and sleepers cells.

Nawaz was chairing a meeting at the PM House to review the internal security situation and the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP), a day after a deadly suicide bombing at a hospital in Quetta killed over 70 and left more a hundred people injured.

Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has directed corps commanders and intelligence outfits to further intensify combing and targeted operations with the aim to eliminate terrorists and sleepers cells.

“The cowardly terror attack on Pakistan’s judiciary, carried out in a hospital, is an attempt to undermine the successes of Operation Zarb-e-Azb,” the army chief said.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and National Security Advisor Lt-Gen (r) Nasir Khan Janjua briefed the prime minister on Tuesday on how terrorist organisations are attacking soft targets.

According to a statement from the PM House, the meeting discussed at length the internal security situation of the country and different aspects of the National Action Plan.

The meeting observed that, after achieving successful results from operation Zarb-e-Azb in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), terrorists are now changing their targets out of desperation.

“We are in a state of war with an ideology that wants to change our way of life,” said PM Nawaz.

He said the government is committed to taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the blood spilled in the carnage in Quetta does not go to waste.

The prime minister expressed his resolve to save Pakistan from terrorism and extremism.

He said the country had embarked upon the right track and would enable every citizen to reap the benefits of a secure, stable, and prosperous Pakistan.

“Terrorists believed they could sow seeds of disharmony and disunity in the nation. The nation is united and supports the government to stay on the course of completely eliminating terrorists from the Pakistani society,” he said.

Sharif decided to call for a broader meeting on Wednesday for detailed discussions on NAP.

The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Sartaj Aziz, Tariq Fatemi, and other senior government officials.

INTENSIFY COMBING AND TARGETED OPERATIONS, ORDERS GEN RAHEEL:

The chief of army staff addressed the Corps Commanders Conference at the General Headquarters on Tuesday, which was attended by all the corps commanders and principal staff officers.

The chief of army staff directed the commanders and intelligence outfits to further intensify the combing and targeted operations with full vigour to eliminate terrorists and sleeper cells.

The COAS said the cowardly terror attack on Pakistan’s judiciary, carried out in a hospital was an attempt to undermine the successes of operation Zarb-e-Azb.

General Raheel added that by adopting a national approach, the armed forces would not allow anyone to reverse the gains made in the fight against terrorism.

The commanders were also directed to provide all necessary assistance to the provincial law-enforcement agencies in capacity building, training and planning to further improve effectiveness in counter-terrorism operations.

The forum also expressed its deepest sympathies with the families of the martyrs and the injured of the Quetta blast.

Participants of the conference were given detailed briefings on ongoing military operations and the overall external and internal security situation in the country with particular reference to the counter terrorism domain.

The high-level huddle by military officials was held a day after the carnage in Quetta, which killed 70 people.

A suicide bomber targeted the emergency services ward at Quetta’s Civil Hospital.

The Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA), a splinter group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the militant Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attack.