By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief has called for stronger domestic military capability and constant operational readiness to meet evolving security threats, with the country facing persistent militant violence and fresh tension on its border with Afghanistan.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, who is also chief of the defence forces, made the remarks during a visit to the headquarters of the army’s elite Special Services Group (SSG) in Tarbela, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Thursday.
The statement said he stressed that “sustained training, indigenous capability development and an uncompromising focus on operational preparedness are essential to maintaining an edge over evolving security threats and emerging challenges”.
He was briefed on “specialised training, operational preparedness and mission-oriented readiness”, according to ISPR. He then watched a demonstration of the SSG’s combat proficiency, agility and precision in special operations, and inspected a display of what the military described as state-of-the-art equipment.
Munir was received on arrival by the General Officer Commanding SSG.
Field Marshal Munir laid a wreath at the martyrs’ monument to honour SSG personnel killed in operations. Local reports added that he offered prayers for the fallen.
Speaking to officers and troops, he praised their “professionalism, high morale, and unwavering devotion to duty”, ISPR said.
Pakistan has faced sustained militant violence, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north-west and Balochistan in the south-west, where security forces have carried out operations against armed militant groups.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused militants operating from Afghan territory of carrying out attacks inside Pakistan. Authorities in Kabul have denied the allegations. The dispute has strained relations between the neighbours and sharpened concern about cross-border militancy.
Those tensions flared again at the weekend. State-run Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday that firing from Afghan border posts on Pakistani checkpoints had continued at Angoor Adda, in South Waziristan, and that Pakistani forces had responded by targeting several Afghan posts and mortar positions. It said no casualties had been reported on the Pakistani side.
The exchange follows a year of open confrontation. Field Marshal Munir visited Wana, in South Waziristan, in March to review the situation on the western border, where he said the use of Afghan territory by militant groups was unacceptable. Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed in April to end hostilities after a week of talks in China.
Incidents have continued since. Pakistani security sources said in September that they had foiled an attempted act of aggression from Afghanistan in the Gulistan sector in Balochistan. Last month, Field Marshal Munir visited the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar, where he was briefed on the security situation, counterterrorism operations and border management measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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