ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sharif said on Saturday that fighting terrorism was a shared responsibility of all agencies as the country battles a resurgence of Taliban militancy.
Addressing a meeting of the Supreme Committee of the National Action Plan (NAP), he said states should also play their role in fighting insurgency in the country.
The Supreme Committee is the highest body responsible for overseeing the implementation of measures to eradicate extremism from the country.
“The responsibility of fighting terrorism is the joint duty and primary responsibility of all state institutions. This is not about you or me, it is about us. We have to eradicate terrorism together,” Sharif said.
The 20-point NAP agenda to eradicate terrorism was adopted by the government and endorsed by the opposition following the December 16, 2014 Peshawar school attack.
The prime minister said Pakistan has been facing terrorism for the last 25 years and the situation has become complicated as it involves crime, drugs, smuggling, extremism and religious terrorism.
The meeting of the Supreme Committee came as Pakistan has faced a rise in terrorist acts in recent years. According to an annual security report published by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, 789 terrorist attacks and counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan in 2023 resulted in 1,524 violence-related deaths and 1,463 injuries, the highest in six years.
The recent wave of terrorism has been led by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which Pakistani officials say is based in Afghanistan.
Sharif acknowledged that some provinces had made progress in combating extremism, but said “I believe we have left this issue too easily to the military,” and that both provincial and federal governments had left it entirely to the military.
“This is a dangerous practice that has become customary over the past few years, that this is the military’s job and military officers have to do this,” he said.
Sharif said each province was paying a price but the overall recognition was that the army had to fight terrorism. He said the army would not eradicate terrorism from the country.
“You can’t have strong stability without a complete system, a whole-of-government approach. And that’s true not just across all agencies and departments, but across federal and state governments, across all agencies,” he said.
Sharif called on political and religious leaders to make it clear that the fight was for Pakistan’s survival and that “we are not fighting someone else’s battle.”
The prime minister also said the rule of law and stability were important for the country’s growth and development. “A weak state can never gain the confidence of investors,” he said, adding that a strong and healthy economy was unimaginable in an unstable state ruled by terrorism.
Published June 22, 2024 16:58 IST
