Pakistan Army said on Monday that it had conducted over 22,000 intelligence-based operations in the ongoing year to eliminate terrorism in the country. Addressing a press conference on Monday, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said that there had been a noticeable increase in the propaganda against the army. DG ISPR said that a total of 398 terrorists have been killed while 137 officials were martyred. He added that over 112 operations have been conducted each day in 2024. Answering a question about Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, DG ISPR said that the decision was taken in a meeting where all stakeholders were present. He added that the operation is a comprehensive effort against terrorism and was needlessly politicised. “The stakes are very high,” DG ISPR said, adding that a lobby does not want revised National Action Plan to succeed. Chaudhry read out PM Shehbaz Sharif’s statement regarding the operation, clarifying that there was no kinetic operation planned that will require displacing any population.

He added that while over 22,000 operations have been conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, there are a total of 22 courts to deal with the arrested terrorists. DG ISPR also said that there was an entire spectrum of illegal activities, including businesses, that was facilitating terrorism. He added that the excuses of missing persons and ‘peace marches’ were suddenly raised as soon as the operation was announced. He said that no one was advocating for an increase in counter terrorism departments and courts. In response to a question about Bannu, DG ISPR recounted the terrorist attack followed by the peace march a day later. He added that there were ‘certain elements’ that were armed and had raised slogans against the state. He said that the protestors had even looted the supply depot.

The DG ISPR said that the army had responded as per SOPs. Without naming the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, he said that a party was trying to protest even though it was responsible for civil administration. Chaudhry also recounted that PTI had responded to May 9 by questioning why the army had not responded. He also criticised courts for being ‘lenient’ towards those involved in May 9. Digital terrorism DG ISPR also called for stringent laws against ‘digital terrorism’ that he said was playing a large part in the propganda against the army. He added that nowhere in the world was there a free pass on disinformation and courts handed out strict punishments. Chaudhry said that there should be legislation to control disinformation and digital terrorism to stop people behind anonymous profiles from spreading propaganda.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan