- Official says two CTD officials lost their life during armed actions; Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Jhelum among 36 cities identified as ‘Areas of Resistance’
Since the launch of Raddul Fasaad (RuF) operation, the security forces have arrested around 76 suspected terrorists while 11 suspected terrorists have been killed across Punjab, Pakistan Today has learnt reliably.
The security operation was launched on February 21 after a new wave of terrorist attacks in different cities. Requesting not being named, an official said that the two officials of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) have embraced martyrdom in various operations since the operation was launched.
“The terrorists arrested belonged to proscribed organisations including Sipah-e-Mohammad, Islamic State, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Aalami, Jamaat-ul-Ahraar, Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) and others,” the official said.
Asked which areas in Punjab were the most focused to hunt down terrorists or their facilitators, abettors and financiers, the official said that all such areas where the security forces had information about active presence of the terrorist and militant forces were called as “Areas of Resistance (AoRs).”
“We have identified around 36 cities as AoRs where we have credible information of network of suspected terrorists, their facilitators and financiers which include Chiniyot, Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Wah Cantt., Bhakkar, Karor Laal Isan, Jhelum, Jhang, Muzaffargarh, Alipur and others,” the official said.
Overall, the law enforces have arrested around 1400 suspected militants from Punjab alone, the official said. “Security agencies conduct around 20 to 25 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across Punjab on a daily basis. The Rangers have a lead role in the operations backed by officials from CTD, Military Intelligence (MI), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Special Branch,” the official said about the modus operandi.
Asked if there was a conflict between the law enforcing agencies, how the matter is resolved, he said that in almost each district, a senior officer of colonel rank heads the Rangers who is supposed to lead the operations. All the cases have to be registered by the CTD while the Rangers would be the complainant in such cases.
Asked what is conflict resolution system between the agencies, the official said that the matter would be taken to the Regional Police Officer (RPO) or the District Police Officer (DPO) in case of any conflict between the law enforcing agencies. “If the respective forum fails to resolve the issue, the matter would be taken to the provincial apex committee for resolution,” he said.
The Raddul Fasaad operation was launched at a critical time in the country’s history soon after terrorist outfits launched a string of attacks in parts of the country under its so-called Ghazi operation. The government believes the attacks were a part of a vicious plan to sabotage the much important summit held recently in Pakistan, the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), which was attended by eight heads of states/prime ministers, two deputy premiers and one special emissary.
In almost two decades, Pakistan has witnessed over a dozen large, heavily-publicised military campaigns and a number of smaller operations to eradicate terrorism. The previous operations were all awe-inspiring including Black Thunder; Sherdil; Rah-e-Haq (1, 2 and 3); Rah-e-Raast; Sirat-e-Mustaqeem; Daraghlam; Bia Daraghlam; Khwakh ba de Sham; Khyber (1, 2 and 3); and Rah-e-Nijaat – all of them lead by former army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani. The Zarb-e-Azb operation was planned earlier and implemented in its modified form by former army chief General Raheel Sharif.
