- Nawaz Sharif says enemies of Pakistan are after China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday asked all state security institutions to respond with full might to eliminate terrorists from the country, after a deadly Taliban bombing killed over 70 people at a Quetta hospital.
“Terrorists are using innovative measures by hitting soft targets and one must respond in an advanced, coordinated way,” the premier said in an emergency meeting at the Balochistan Governor’s Secretariat where he was given a briefing by Chief Secretary Saifullah Chattha on the situation arising from the deadly blast at Quetta Civil Hospital.
The meeting was attended by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai, Chief Minister Sanaullah Zahri, Commander Southern Command Lieutenant-General Amir Riaz, ISPR Director General Lieutenant-General Asim Bajwa, Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser Nasser Khan Janjua, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid and the director generals of the Military Operations and Military Intelligence.
The prime minister said the last three years had seen improvement in peace restoration in Balochistan and that this sad incident could not affect the resolve of the nation. “No doubt the enemies of Pakistan are after the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) project,” he said.
Sharif observed that under the leadership of COAS Raheel Sharif, the army was doing a commendable job to neutralise the security threats to the CPEC. He said the federal and provincial governments would divert resources to augment capacity of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).
“We will address the international terror threats through maximum effort. We will make a functional mechanism of federal-provincial law enforcement and intelligence agencies. We will support this framework with available resources,” the premier said as he called a report from the Balochistan chief minister in this respect.
Earlier after his arrival, Prime Minister Sharif visited the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and inquired after the injured of the terrorist attack. He also prayed for early recovery of those injured in the bombing.