Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR)has said that the country needs to confront militants and “digital terrorists” as the military forces are already making sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.
“Digital terrorism is being done on social media,” stated the DG ISPR on Monday during a press conference in Rawalpindi. Terrorists and cyberterrorists are being confronted by the army. The time has arrived for everyone in the country to oppose them.”
Using Azm-e-Istehkam as an example, Lieutenant General Chaudhry stated that regrettably, important problems were also becoming politicised in Pakistan.
“Azm-e-Istehkam is a comprehensive and integrated counter-terrorism campaign, not a military operation per se as it is being presented,” the director general of ISPR stated.
He recalled that the statement released after the June 22 meeting of the Apex Committee, the nation’s highest security body, mentioned that “we have made an anti-terrorism policy with national consensus.”
In response to criticism of the campaign, the DG ISPR clarified that there would be no additional displacements because of Azm-e-Istehkam and stated that there are no no-go zones in the entire nation.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement on June 24 to provide clarification, the army spokesperson told journalists, in response to the uproar over the recently launched campaign.
“The Azm-e-Istehkam operation is not a military one. Why is there controversy surrounding Azm-e-Istehkam? There is a powerful lobby that is opposed to Azm-e-Istehkam’s goals being achieved. It’s getting political.”
He questioned, “Why did a mafia, political mafia, and an illegal mafia say that they would not let this happen?” Adding that a certain political mafia tries to stir up controversy around Azm-e-Istehkam.
He gave statistics about the army’s current operations, stating that it carries out four to five operations every hour on a daily basis, indicating that the fight against terrorism was already well underway.
He went on to say that the security forces carried out 22,409 intelligence-based operations this year and that more than 112 operations are carried out every day by the police, armed forces, intelligence services, and other law enforcement organisations.
