Govt. officials revealed yesterday that over 600 hardcore terrorists have been arrested since the approval of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism.
These terrorists were apprehended in an ongoing countrywide crackdown over the past seven weeks, officials monitoring the NAP’s execution claimed yesterday They have been categorised by military and civilian agencies as ‘jet-black terrorists’ and their cases are to be sent to the interior ministry with a recommendation for trials in military courts, the officials added.
Officials said earlier this month that security agencies have launched a targeted operation against ‘supporters and abettors’ of terror outfits as part of the NAP. They added that supporters and abettors of terrorists, including banned outfits, had been under surveillance in South Punjab and parts of interior Sindh which have been identified as the strongholds of groups and individuals supporting several militant outfits.
Of these 600-plus terrorists, 320 belong to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while 311 have links with Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Hizb-ut-Tahrir “Cases of these terrorists who carry an aggregate bounty of Rs271 million would be sent to the military courts,” a senior official of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority told the media.
However, he added that next week Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will give the final word on whether the cases of these 600-plus terrorists would be sent to the military courts or to anti-terrorism courts set up under the Pakistan Protection Act. The interior minister, accompanied by Nacta Chairman Hamid Ali Khan, is likely to fly to the United States to attend an international counterterrorism summit.
The parliamentary parties meanwhile, are also perturbed over what they call lack of clarity in the government’s approach. Last month, media reports claimed that the government has also outlawed Haqqani Network and Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the interior minister said that Pakistan would reconcile its list of banned groups with that of the United Nations.
However, the interior minister denied in a policy statement on the floor of parliament that the government had not banned any organisation since the December 16, 2014 bloody Taliban rampage on the Army Public School in Peshawar. He made it clear that no group would be outlawed under American or Indian pressure.
The parliamentary parties suggest the government take indiscriminate action against all proscribed groups – including those which have resurrected under different names. They were particularly incensed by public rallies staged by some banned groups on February 5 in the federal capital.
“We are in a state of war and we cannot live in a state of denial,” said Senator Afrasiab Khattak of the Awami National Party (ANP). He claimed that all banned outfits were headquartered in Punjab where they were operating under different names. He further claimed that terror kingpins were also sheltering in Punjab – the province where the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is in power.
PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said clarity in policy was necessary. He called upon the government to take action against all militant groups.
A parliamentary panel, headed by Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), has summoned the IG Punjab today after expressing displeasure over the activities of banned outfits in the province on February 5. The panel has also sought details of the Islamic seminaries receiving funds from abroad.
