LAHORE/KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said the war on terror would be taken to its logical end.
“No one should think that we will stumble in this struggle due to such terror attacks,” he said while chairing a law and order meeting here in the backdrop of Monday’s Charring Cross terrorist attack.
The meeting was attended by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, National Security Advisor Lt-Gen (r) Nasir Janjua and other provincial cabinet members, a statement issued by the PM’s media cell said.
The Prime Minister said the Army and other law enforcement agencies had given matchless sacrifices to achieve great success in the war.
He said, “Our enemies will be defeated by our national resolve. To wipe out terrorism is our national duty.”
“Neither I nor this nation will forget the sacrifices of our valiant police officers and officials. This is a war of right and wrong and we as a nation are on the right side of history in this war. We will soon see the end of this cancerous terrorism and its ideology,” he added.
The Prime Minister said, “Swift, ruthless and successful response is the only option for us.” He was briefed by Additional Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Inspector General Rai Tahir and was told that the CCTV footage had helped in speeding up the investigations into Lahore terror attack.
The CTD chief told the meeting, “12 terrorist plans were disrupted in the year 2016. 231 terrorists have been killed by the CTD Punjab and 769 terrorists have been arrested”.
The meeting was told, “Counter terror department and Punjab Police with the support of our government will take revenge from these terrorists as soon as possible. Our fallen heroes have given ultimate sacrifice and we will not let ourself and our nation down.”
Participants of the meeting also prayed for the departed souls of Monday’s terrorist incident.
Separately, Nawaz visited the residence of Capt (r) Syed Ahmad Mobin and expressed condolences with the grieving family.
Mobin was martyred in a suicide blast at Charring Cross, The Mall.
The Prime Minister expressed condolences with the mother, sister and wife of Capt (r) Mobin. He also prayed to God to rest the departed soul in eternal peace.
Chaudhry Nisar, Khawaja Asif, Lt Gen (r) Nasir Janjua, Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Inspector General Mushtaq Sukhera, Lahore Deputy Commissioner Sameer Ahmad Syed, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Amin Wains and other government officials were present.
Meanwhile, addressing the concluding ceremony of Multinational Naval Exercise AMAN-17, Nawaz lauded the strenuous efforts of Pakistan Navy for the successful conduct of Exercise AMAN-17, which is a manifestation of Pakistan’s policy of constructive engagement with the comity of nations for peace and stability in the maritime commons. He added that presence of such large number of foreign navies is reflective of confidence of world navies on Pakistan. He also stated that with this state of operational readiness, Pakistan Navy is fully prepared and committed to ensure seaward defence and safeguard maritime interests of Pakistan.
Upon arrival onboard Pakistan Navy Ship NASR, Nawaz was received by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah.
The defence minister, defence secretary, Sindh governor, Sindh chief minister, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, chief of the army staff, chief of the air staff, Sri Lankan naval chief, national security advisor to PM, ambassadors, consul generals, diplomats and civil and military officials were also present.
Nawaz was briefed on the overall conduct and operational perspective of the exercise and was given a detailed account of the sea based activities.
He witnessed various operational serials of the exercise conducted at sea by participating naval ships, aircraft, helicopters and PAF fighter jets. These serials comprised of replenishment of men and material from one ship to another, Rockets Depth Charge (RDC) firing and surface to surface firing on pre-determined targets. Nawaz was also presented an impressive fly past by various aircraft and helicopters of PN, PAF and participating countries, including Japanese P3C Orion aircraft.
