Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the government has zero tolerance for terrorists and swift prosecution is required to set an example out of terrorist elements.
Chairing a meeting of the Apex Committee on National Action Plan on Monday, the prime minister emphasised that a multi-pronged approach, full spectrum and vigorous implementation of NAP is required to thwart threat of terrorism.
He stressed upon taking proactive measures to tackle such incidents in future. He expressed the belief that nefarious designs to destabilise the country will never succeed as the entire nation is united to defeat the menace of terrorism.
He said that the public realises that some elements are trying to create disharmony on the basis of sectarianism and hate speech, but the state will never allow such designs to succeed.
The Apex Committee strongly condemned the Peshawar attack and offered condolences for the martyrs who lost their lives in the attack. It stressed upon the need to strengthen the role of National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) to coordinate measures essential for countering terrorism and capacity building of counter terrorism departments.
It was also highlighted that provinces need to allocate more resources for conducting effective investigations by adopting scientific techniques and setting up modern forensic labs. The need to accord conclusive end to terrorism cases in courts of law was emphasised.
The secretary interior presented a detailed briefing on the implementation status of NAP, including measures taken to choke terror financing, counter violent extremism, and investigation and prosecution of terrorism cases.
The secretary also briefed the meeting on the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards militancy, capacity building of law enforcement agencies, regulation and registration of seminaries, the merger of former FATA areas, reforms in the criminal justice system, eliminating sectarian terrorism, curbing smuggling, narco-traffic and human trafficking, the reconciliation process in Balochistan, and issues related to refugees.
The meeting was briefed that satisfactory implementation has been achieved on majority action points; however, support from provincial governments is required for inter-provincial issues.
The meeting was attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry, Sheikh Rasheed and Asad Umar, and National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yusuf.
The chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan, chief secretaries, inspector generals of police, and senior civil and military officers were also present.
