Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has reiterated that all political parties are respectable for the Pakistan Army and the institute does not have any leaning towards any political party or ideology.
He was addressing a press conference on the prevailing security situation, counter-terrorism efforts, and IBOs to contain terrorism activities across the country in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
The army's spokesperson repeatedly denied that the Pakistan army is a national military and it is not siding with anyone as political parties blame each other for having the establishment's backing.
The armed forces spokesperson said the Pakistan Army along with civil and military intelligence agencies is conducting over 70 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) on average across the country to curb the recent wave of terrorism and resurgence.
Major Gen Chaudhry said the security forces have so far conducted some 8,269 IBOs since 2023 and apprehended 1,378 terrorists and killed 157 among them during the anti-terrorism operations. He added that for the past many months, terrorist activities were underway to destabilize peace in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces. “The security forces are focusing on it.
The Civil and Military law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have made wonderful measures. However, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch Separatist organizations have been found behind all that,” the DG ISPR said.
He said since the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan, some 436 terrorist incidents took place that martyred 293 innocent civilians and injured 521 individuals. “Today, Alhamdulilah (Thanks to Allah) with the support of the nation, there is no ‘No Go Area’ in Pakistan,” he added.
The armed forces spokesperson underlined that there were few terrorist groups making hostile activities whereas proper efforts were underway to exterminate them. He added that a large cache of illegal weapons, ammunition, and ordnance was being recovered from the terrorists during various IBOs and further recovery was underway.
The Peshawar Police Lines and Karachi Police Office (KPO) attacks showed the nefarious intentions of the country’s enemies, whereas these terrorists had no contact with Islam, he added.
With regards to the attack on KPO, Maj-Gen Sharif said the three terrorists who carried out the attack had been killed in retaliatory action by security forces. “And three masterminds behind this attack were also arrested.”
“Arms and ammunition were seized from the custody of these terrorists,” he said, adding that they had reached Karachi via Hub. The reconnaissance of the KPO was carried out for eight months before the attack, he added.
He informed that the Peshawar attack was done by Jamaat ul Ahrar and the attacker hailed from Afghanistan. He added that the Peshawar attack facilitator was arrested who had trained the suicide attackers received a sum of Rs7.5 million for the facilitation and execution of the attack. “The attack on Peshawar Police Lines was postponed twice due to a lack of people offering prayer in the mosque. For the third time, the attack was executed in the presence of a maximum number of people,” the ISPR DG said.
He added that the KPO attack facilitator Aryad Ullah Waheed alias Abdul Aziz was also arrested and received directions from TTP leadership and got Rs 3 million whereas he bought a car from that money to execute the attack.
The ISPR DG mentioned that during the anti-terrorism operations since January 2023, some 137 officers and soldiers have embraced martyrdom and 117 got injured. He said that the nation paid tribute to these brave sons of the soil.
He added that the intelligence agencies’ day and night efforts had helped to arrest Baloch terrorist commander Gulzar Alam alias Shambey.
Pakistan armed forces’ efforts were not hidden to any and if compared to the world forces under which circumstances and resources it fought against terrorism, there was no precedent to it, he added. “Our fight will continue till termination of the last terrorist,” he vowed.
Highlighting the Western Border Management measures, the ISPR DG said almost 98 percent of border fencing along the 2,611 kilometers Pak-Afghan international border was completed and 85 percent of fencing was completed along the Pak-Iran border.
He added that 85 percent construction of forts along the Pak-Afghan and 33 percent along the Pak-Iran border was completed.
During this entire process, he said many soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom to complete fencing.
He added that 65 percent area in the newly merged tribal districts was cleansed from mines as some 98,000 mines have been neutralized.
Coming back to India, Maj-Gen Sharif said New Delhi’s “aggressive designs and baseless accusations and claims” would not change history or occupied Kashmir’s internationally recognised status.
Referring to the army chief’s visit to the LoC earlier this month, the DG ISPR said the COAS had sent a message in “clear words” that the army was capable of defending every inch of the country’s territory.
“If need be, we can take this battle into the enemy’s territory. I also feel it important to say that if India thinks of any misadventure due to any miscalculation or misunderstanding, then let there be no doubt that the army would give a befitting response with national support.”
In response to a question, he said the Ministry of Defence had already given a briefing to the Supreme Court regarding the deployment of troops for elections, which was based on "ground realities".
The defence ministry briefed the apex court last week on why the government could not provide army personnel for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — and the report has not been made public yet.
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