By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The military on Monday accused an “illegal political mafia” of attempting to “politicizing” its anti-terrorism efforts, including a new operation aimed at eliminating militants and extremist thinking.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, spokesman for the army, said the operation, Azm-e-Istehkam (Resolve for Stability), had been unfairly criticized by a “massive, illegal, political mafia” to sabotage the operation and its first move was to make the operations controversial through false and fake narratives.
“Why did a mafia, a political mafia, and an illegal mafia say that they would not let this [campaign] happen?” Chaudhry told a news conference, adding that opponents of the operation had tried to make it “controversial” and paint it as a purely military operation in which thousands would be displaced.
“Azm-e-Istehkam is a comprehensive and integrated counter-terrorism campaign, not a military operation as it is being presented,” he added. “This is a comprehensive campaign against terrorism, which won’t just root out terrorism but which will lift up all of society … and the stakes are very high here.”
Pakistan last month announced it would launch a new “multi-pronged” operation called Azm-e-Istehkam that would not only eliminate militants though military and intelligence actions but also deter extremist thinking through socio-economic uplift.
The campaign has so far been rejected by opposition parties, particularly the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former prime minister Khan, on the grounds that opposition parties and parliament were not consulted.
Pakistan has seen a massive surge in militancy in recent months, with daily attacks on security forces and assassinations of police and government officials. Islamabad blames the attacks on militants operating out of Afghanistan.
Kabul denies that it allows its territory to be used by insurgents and says Pakistan’s security woes are a domestic issue.
“A narrative is being built that the operation would displace people […] but the purpose of the operation was only to reinvigorate the already in-place National Action Plan (NAP),” General Chaudhry said. “A massive, illegal, political mafia rose to sabotage the operation and its first move was to make the operations controversial.”
“The stakes in [sabotaging] this operation are very high, and it’s not based on any ideology but involves a lot of money.”
Chaudhry denied opposition claims that the operation would displace thousands of people, saying it was a “comprehensive and integrated counter-terrorism campaign” aimed at lifting up all of society.
He said 137 officers and soldiers had been killed in anti-terror operations this year and security forces had conducted over 22,000 intelligence-based operations.
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