ISLAMABAD: As the military launched its first combing
operations in Punjab targeting the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s
splinter group Jamaatul Ahrar, Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif
publicly vented frustration on Friday over the government’s poor
progress on the National Action Plan against terrorism. He said the
military’s gains during Operation Zarb-i-Azb were being lost.
“The
National Action Plan is central to achievements of our objectives and
its lack of progress is affecting the consolidation phase of Operation
Zarb-i-Azb,” he said at a special security meeting at the General
Headquarters. The meeting was attended by Inter-Services Intelligence
Director General Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, 10 Corps Commander Lt Gen Malik
Zafar Iqbal and principal staff officers.
The army
chief’s blunt criticism, which came a day after civilian and military
leaders held two-day deliberations on NAP’s sluggish performance,
reflected the disappointment within the armed forces over the
government’s response to their reservations over the plan’s
implementation.
Combing operations launched in Rawalpindi district
The military’s dissatisfaction with the government’s
performance in combating terrorism and extremism is no secret, but it is
the second time that the army chief has publicly expressed his
discontentment over the state of affairs since NAP was initiated in
December 2014. The last time he did so was at a corps commanders
conference in November last year, where he reminded the government of
the need for “matching governance initiatives” and cautioned that
without them the effects of the military’s ‘kinetic operations’ could be
undermined.
His remarks had riled the political leadership and both the government and opposition angrily reacted.
The message this time was no different.
“Unless
all prongs deliver meaningfully and all inadequacies are addressed,
remnants of terrorism would continue to simmer and long-term peace and
stability would remain a distant dream,” the general warned.
The
military’s concerns, according to an insider, relate to uncertain
future of the Protection of Pakistan Act under which special courts had
been established, a major counterterrorism legislation that expired last
month; the political leadership’s reluctance to allow special powers
for Rangers in both Punjab and Sindh; issues concerning preventive
detention of suspects for inquiry; poor prosecution of cases of
terrorism; lack of progress on Fata (Federally Administered Tribal
Areas) and madressah (seminary) reforms; problems with raising of new
Frontier Corps wings in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; lack of
focus on capacity building of civilian law enforcement agencies; and
allocation of required funds for countering terrorism.
The
army chief briefed the meeting about the discussions he had held with
the civilian leaders during the two-day-long review session.
The
upshot of the civil-military deliberations was a decision to set up a
task force for overseeing the implementation of NAP. But the military
seems dissatisfied with the decision because of an unclear hierarchy and
timeline for action by the new body.
“Time is of the essence. We cannot afford to wait,” an officer aware of the sense in the military said.
The
military has further been upset over critical comments by some
politicians after the recent Quetta bomb attack and an unending
controversy over the future of the army chief, who is set to retire in
November.
“Any distracting and inciting comments and
theories by some quarters are unhelpful and undermining the overall
national effort,” Gen Sharif told the generals.
The
resentment within the military’s top brass over the criticism by
politicians, particularly by the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s chief
Mehmood Khan Achakzai and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s leader Maulana
Mohammad Khan Sherani, was forcefully conveyed to the government during
the review meeting. The government then defended the performance of the
military and intelligence agencies in the National Assembly and this
was also included in a statement issued by the Prime Minister Office at
the conclusion of the NAP meeting.
But that seemingly has not been enough to pacify the military, which believes that it is being unjustly criticised.
Combing operations
The
military, meanwhile, for the first time started combing operations in
Punjab by raiding terrorist hideouts in Rawalpindi district’s Kallar
Sayedan and Gujar Khan areas.
The TTP’s splinter group
Jamaatul Ahrar, which has been behind some of the most gruesome attacks
in the country and claimed this week’s Quetta bombing, was targeted in
the raids.
According to the ISPR, the military’s public
relations wing, six terrorists, including two ‘important militant
commanders’, were held and a cache of arms and ammunition, including
prepared improvised explosive devices, seized.
The
countrywide combing operations, involving large-scale troop deployment,
were approved by the military in May after the completion of kinetic
operations in North Waziristan.
The new operations are aimed at busting terrorist sleeper cells and eliminating hiding terrorists.
The
Punjab government has, however, apparently remained averse to special
military-led operations in the province. In that respect the start of
the operations in Punjab are being seen as significant by analysts.
Gen
Sharif had ordered at a corps commanders meeting this week
intensification of the combing operations by expanding their scope and
spread. Troops were allowed to go after the terrorists everywhere in the
country.
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