Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to end terrorism in the country while chairing a meeting attended by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and other heads of intelligence agencies.
Friday’s high-profile meeting, also saw the participation of defence minister Khawaja Asif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah, and foreign affairs minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, according to Dunya News TV report.
The situation in the Swat Valley and the issues related to negotiations with the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were discussed in the meeting, following which the officials from the security agencies presented their recommendations to Sharif, the report said.
Security issues related to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the western borders were also reviewed in the meeting, it said. Earlier, Prime Minister Sharif and Gen. Bajwa held a separate one-on-one meeting and discussed matters pertaining to national and internal security, it said.
Following this meeting Sharif asserted that terrorism will not be allowed to flourish again and peace would be restored in the country, as the sacrifices of security personnel cannot be forgotten, it added.
Sharif’s assurance notwithstanding, the Swat valley has become one of the most volatile regions in the country. Thousands rallied in the Swat Valley earlier this week after a local school bus driver was shot down by an unknown miscreant.
In September, five people – including an influential anti-Taliban tribal leader – were killed in a bomb blast in Kot Katai village in the region. The Swat valley has been a TTP stronghold till a decade ago.
The uptick in terrorist activities in the region comes as peace talks between Pakistan’s security forces and the TTP have failed to make any progress.
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