Pakistan Army have announced to install gates on all borders crossing alongside Pak-Afghan border on Thursday.
DG ISPR Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa said by installing gates, Pak Army want to improve immigrating process.
Inter Services Public Relations DG said alongside Pakistan Afghanistan border, 18 main crossing are there, where gates will be installed.
Army’s spokesman Lt. General Bajwa briefed media persons
Islamic State, also known as Daesh, tried to make inroads into Pakistan in two groups.
25 terrorists belonging to the group have been apprehended, he said. “Six Tehrik-e-Taliban commanders pledged allegiance to Daesh. In Orkzai agency Hafiz Saeed was declare the leader,” he said.
He added that Daesh was trying to enter Pakistan. However wall chalking in big cities were done by hired individuals who were given Rs 1,000 each.
The head of the military’s media wing remarked that Operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorists in the North Waziristan tribal region is an indiscriminate operation.
“The salient operational guidelines for Operation Zarb-e-Azb were that it would be an indiscriminate operation. It was decided that collateral damage would be avoided and human rights would be taken into consideration,” Bajwa said.
“In 2014, the security environment when Operation Zarb-e-Azb started was such that the country faced various instances of terrorism,” he said. “There were 311 IED blasts, 74 attacks, and 26 suicide blasts in 2014.”
Bajwa said before the launch of Zarb-e-Azb, in which more than 3500 terrorists have been killed, North Waziristan was the epicentre of terrorism.
“People could not imagine going to North Waziristan as it had become the epicentre of terrorism, however, the Pak Army managed to clear out the area completely after which forces moved to Khyber Agency where the terrorists had taken shelter,” he said.
Pak Army killed 900 terrorists during the Khyber operation and destroyed the network of terrorists that was threatening areas in the immediate surroundings, such as Peshawar, Bajwa said.
“We recovered weapons, ammunition, IEDs, explosives, communications equipment, hate literature and discovered tunnels,” he said.
Bajwa said: “There was enough explosive material there to carry out five IED blasts every day for 21 years. They could have caused 134,000 casualties with the amount of material we recovered.”
He said that the Shawal Valley produced pine nuts, an expensive dry fruit. “Terrorists would use profit generated from these crops which amounted to billions for funding terror across the country.”
Peace in the region was restored after huge sacrifices made by the armed forces, he said. He added that 168 combing operations to ensnare terrorists were conducted in the country while 900 terrorists were killed.
He said that the Pak-Afghan border was being sealed so that terrorists could not infiltrate.
Answering a question he said that the Army was conducting an indiscriminate operation and was targeting the Haqqani Network.
Lauding the success of the operation he said, “FATA has been cleared. All terrorist sleeper cells have been busted.”
He said 21383 intelligence based operations have been carried out in the entire country during which 222 terrorists were killed and 31400 arrests made. There have been 168 combing operations leading to 744 arrests.
He said there has been a marked improvement in security and law and order situation due to operation Zarb-e-Azb.
The army spokesperson said that efforts are being made to repatriate all the Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) by the end of this year while 64 per cent people have already been repatriated since Zarb-e-Azb was launched.
Shawal has been made Switzerland, Bajwa claimed.He said the operation in Shawal valley went well and soldiers cleared every house, every school and every mosque in the area.
“Shawal is like Switzerland now,” Bajwa claimed. “The residents are slowly returning, but they want the Army to stay on and provide stability and revive the economy
He further remarked that mosques and educational institutes are being constructed in the areas.
Lt Gen Asim Bajwa also told reporters that Pakistan suffered loss of $100.69 billion in war on terror.
He said 537 soldiers have embraced martyrdom and 2272 sustained injuries in operation Zarb-e-Azb since June 15, 2014.
“Those who point fingers at Pakistan consider the sacrifices the nation as well as the Army has made,” he said.
There are 18 major crossing points between Pakistan and Afghanistan along the 2,600-kilometre-long shared border, Bajwa said.
He said 18 gates will be installed at Pak-Afghan border to aid border management. People will be allowed to cross the border through these checkpoints only.
Moreover, he said, “There are chances of terrorists from across the border entering Afghan refugees camps. Respectful repatriation of Afghan refugees will solve this issue.”
Briefing on targeted operation in Karachi, DG ISPR said that terror incidents decreased by 74% since launch of the operation in September 2013.Incidents of target killings decreased by 94%, extortion by 95% and kidnapping incidents reduced by 89% in Karachi.
Responding to a question regarding London-based Muttahida Qaumi Momvement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain’s recent provocative remarks, Lt General Asim Bajwa stated that anti-Pakistan slogans are not acceptable to any Pakistani citizen.
While refusing to make any further comments on the topic, Bajwa said the government has already taken action in this matter.
He said that actions have been taken against those inciting violence and more action will be taken in the near future.
He further told that 168 combing operations have been conducted across the country so far.
