Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that he hopes Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will take steps for a Zarb-e-Azb like operation to curb the rising terrorism in the country.
Talking to journalists inside Parliament House, the defense minister stressed the need for a national consensus to conduct a Zarb-e-Azb like operation against the recurring terrorism incidents.
He added that the National Security Committee (NSC) would decide about future action against the terrorist organizations.
He termed the Peshawar blast ‘as same tragedy’ as the APS attack, adding that all political parties were united at the time of the APS tragedy, and now the country required the same consensus.
The statement appeared a day after a powerful blast triggered by a suicide attack rocked a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines on Monday, killing about 100 people and several others injured.
Khawaja Asif on terrorism
Later while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, the minister recalled that before going ahead, we should be introspective and should learn from our mistakes. He said, “we sowed the seeds of terrorism ourselves.”
Refereeing the banned terror organizations, Khawaja Asif said that two years before, it was told to the parliament that these people could be negotiated; however, a positive conclusion was sorted out of the matter. He criticized Imran Khan and his government for mishandling the issue and his views on dialogue with the proscribed outfits.
