Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir has said that the Pakistan Army remains focused on the evolving security situation and is determined to take the battle to terrorists.
In a statement released on Friday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the army chief visited North Waziristan’s Miranshah town and the Special Services Group (SSG) headquarters in Tarbela.
“At Miranshah, the COAS laid a floral wreath at the Martyrs’ Monument to pay homage to brave soldiers who laid [down their] lives while defending the motherland,” the ISPR said.
Gen Munir was briefed by field commanders on the latest security situation in the area and the response mechanisms to thwart terrorist threats, the statement added.
The army chief also visited frontline troops deployed along the Pak-Afghan border. “While interacting with officers and men, the COAS commended their professionalism, high morale, and operational readiness,” the statement said.
The ISPR quoted the COAS as saying that the army was focused on the evolving security situation, determined to take the battle to the terrorists and on breaking the “nexus with their facilitators so as to ensure lasting peace through socio-economic development”.
“Pakistan Army will consolidate the hard-earned peace, made possible by the supreme sacrifices of [the] resilient Pakistani nation and law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Later, Gen Munir also visited the SSG headquarters in Tarbela. The COAS met SSG officers and men, including the Zarrar Company whose soldiers took part in the operation at the Counter Terrorism Department complex in Bannu.
“The COAS praised their indomitable spirit, sacrifices, and commitment to duty in various operations. The COAS said SSG is the pride of the nation and it had proved its metal over the years,” the ISPR statement said.
The statement comes amid a spate of terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Four policemen were martyred when terrorists laid siege to a police station in Lakki Marwat — a district of Bannu division — on Sunday.
The same day, militants detained at a facility run by KP police’s Counter Terrorism Department in Bannu took control of the compound, held security personnel hostage and demanded a safe passage first to Afghanistan and later to North Waziristan or South Waziristan.
The siege ended after more than two days following an operation by security forces. Twenty-five terrorists were killed and three security personnel were martyred in the operation.
On Monday, an Intelligence Bureau sub-inspector was gunned down in Peshawar while a suicide attack in North Waziristan claimed the lives of a soldier and two civilians. Also on Monday, back-to-back bombings in Khuzdar injured 20.
In the early hours of Tuesday, dozens of armed militants stormed a police station in South Waziristan’s Wana and escaped after looting arms and ammunition.
Earlier today, a policeman was martyred and at least six people — including four police officers and two civilians — were injured in a suicide blast in Islamabad’s I-10/4 sector in an attack claimed by the outlaw Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
