Civil and the new military leadership of the country are on same page to root out terrorism from the country and final efforts are under process to highlight those persons and banned organizations involved in terrorist activities.
Sources in power corridors disclosed to Pakistan Today that the civil government and the new military leadership are on same page against the terrorism. They said all efforts made during the last three years could not completely root out the terrorism from the country as the element of surprise was missing there. However, new military leadership has achieved success in eradicating terrorism without creating unnecessary noise or disturbing civil-military relations. These things have been done with the single intention of making Pakistan safer, not for self-projection, sources said.
The sources further said the new army leadership was different. It has emphasis is on work rather than self-projection. Similarly, more emphasis on taking hard decisions, while less on sweeping things under the rug, besides the fact that more emphasis of new army leadership is on cooperation, and less on confrontation with institutions. “As a result of this new shift, the army has been able to achieve major successes,” sources added.
Sharing details of success achieved by the new military leadership, sources said well-planned and daring strikes have killed many terrorists deep inside Afghanistan and this has been done for the first time in the history of the country as no such raids or activities were conducted in the past.
Similarly, Rangers have been deployed in Punjab for the first time. This was never achieved before, despite many attempts. COAS Gen Qamar Bajwa has been able to achieve this and terrorists are now being killed and arrested from all corners of Punjab, sources said.
It is also learnt that Pakistan’s posture along the Afghanistan border has become offensive now. Targets close to the border are targeted through artillery. This has brought a lot of pressure from the Afghan government and international community, but the hard decision had to be made. Fencing of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was started, despite severe pressure from the Afghan government, who does not accept the Durand Line as a border.
Border with Afghanistan was closed, which stopped the flow of wheat and many essential commodities. This pushed the Afghan government to start cooperating with Pakistan. This pressure was taken despite massive pressure from Afghan government, international organisations and businesses
Sources further disclosed that 17 high profile terrorists have been killed by the army in the last two months. And, their names are being released gradually so that sources are not compromised. In this short duration, over 350 terrorists were killed. However, the focus now is to go for big names, said sources.
Sources also said raids are conducted all across the country everyday; 700 arrests being made in just two months.
The army casualty rate has also increased, with more deaths occuring every week. This is because the army has gone after terrorists the hardest this time. It is not about “clearing” now, it is about killing, they added.
It is pertinent to mention here that by late 2016, Pakistan’s relations with key allies like Saudi Arabia and UAE were poor. So much so that UAE’s troops participated in India’s Republic Day Parade on 26 January 2017. Due to military diplomacy and successful efforts of COAS Gen Qamar Bajwa, relationships with both these countries have become positive again. Saudi Arabia’s troops participated in Pakistan 23 March 2017 parade. UAE showed its friendship with Pakistan by having lights of Pakistan’s flag on Burj Khalifa.
Moreover, participation of China’s military in Pakistan’s 23 March 2017 parade is significant. This is the first time that Chinese troops have participated in a foreign military parade. Turkish military band Mehter’s participation in Pakistan’s 23 March 2017 parade is also a major success. This means that Pakistan’s three biggest allies – China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have come even closer.
Besides, the Chinese leadership has been telling Pakistan’s civil and military leaders for a long time: “Speak Less, Do More”. We as Pakistanis should understand this now that working quietly, making hard decisions and actually doing things are better than self-projection and making tall claims.
It is also worth mentioning that both Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and Tehreek-i-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP) were banned in 2002 by the Musharraf regime. The SSP later began to operate as the Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan, which was banned by the interior ministry. It currently functions under the banner of ASWJ, which is also on the list of proscribed groups. On the other hand, the TJP became the Tehreek-i-Islami, which was also banned. It now operates under the name of Shia Ulema Council (SUC).