Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said army will assist police in all provinces to root out terrorism in the country, while outlining the key points of the action plan committee to combat militancy in the country.
“Police are not trained or equipped for counter-terrorism, and training the police will be time consuming. The army will support the police in the provincial governments,” the interior minister said while addressing the National Action Plan Committee (NAPC) meeting.
Nisar also said that an estimated 10,000 army personnel will be deployed in all four provinces, but also stated that the army is “over exposed on borders and more specifically in the war against terror”.
Further, in regard to the deployment of the army personnel in provinces, the interior minister stressed the need for the requisitioning of Article 245.
“Letters have been written to three provinces in regard to this, and if there is no requisitioning under Article 245, the armed forces will withdraw,” he said.
“The army is currently doing the work of the Rapid Response Force,” he stated.
The interior minister also added that financing of terrorist organizations should be stopped, and said the Red Book “for the most wanted terrorists” needs to be updated regularly.
“There should be effective implementation of the ban on militant organizations and measures to ensure against their re-emergence in different names,” Nisar said, listing yet another point.
“When one organization is banned, it starts to work again with another name,” he said.
Nisar added that there needs to be consensus between civil and military leadership in this regard.
The interior minister also spoke about the role of the media, stating that militants should “not be glorified”.
“Their [militants’] statements and threats should not be run as breaking news, whether it is on the internet or in the media,” he said. He also said it is crucial to regulate the distribution of explosive materials.
