Ghafoor: Army can face any challenge

16 suicide bombers, all from Afghanistan, also held in year-long crackdown, officer says

Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor yesterday said Pakistan’s overall security situation is improving day by day and that the Army is prepared to meet any threats and challenges.

The military spokesman was briefing the media in Rawalpindi on the role of security forces in improving the security situation.

DG ISPR Ghafoor said that since its launch in February 2017, the Operation Radd-Ul-Fasaad has eliminated seven major terrorist organizations. He credited the intelligence agencies for playing a leading role on war on terrorism and busting major terrorist networks such as Ansar Ul Sharia Karachi, Jamat Ul Ahrar Kurram, TTS Lahore, TTP Swabi, TTS Dir/Swat and Intiqam-E-Waziristan group.

He said Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) among others have played a key role in curbing terrorism.

Around “23,380 Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) have been conducted in which 23,964 weapons have been recovered and 7,758 check posts have been installed” during the one year operation. The forces also arrested 16 suicide bombers, all of them from Afghanistan. “9 of them were Afghans who are under custody.”

At least 513 terrorist plans were averted by the forces including 268 in KP and FATA, 192 in Balochistan, 28 in Sindh, 18 in Punjab and 7 in Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan and AJK.

Nearly 200 threat warnings were reported between Dec 2017 to March 2018 of which most were from TTP (47) and JuA (25).

India ties

Speaking on the issue of ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary by India, he said the year 2018 is the worst as “There have been 948 violations in three months alone”. He cautioned that “India needs to realise that aggression at the LoC and Working Boundary will ruin prospects of peace.”