Operation Azm-e-Istehkam to target anti-state mafias: DG ISPR

ISLAMABAD: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif on Monday brushed aside misconceptions over Operation Azm-e-Istehkam and stressed that it was a comprehensive counter-terrorism drive that had been launched after national consensus.

He said it was not just a military operation as portrayed by some disgruntled elements, rather a comprehensive drive to flush out anti-state individuals and mafias, hell bent upon to disrupt the peaceful environment in the country.

In a press conference at the General Headquarters, the ISPR DG specifically highlighted major aspects of the operation in the wake of an organised campaign against state institutions, based on fake and baseless news, the official news agency reported.

Lieutenant General Sharif gave the breakup of counter-terrorism drive during the current year as some 22,409 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were conducted that resulted in elimination of 398 terrorists. On average, 112 IBOs were done on daily basis by the army, police and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) that helped in elimination of 31 high value targets (most wanted terrorists), he added,

During these counter-terrorism activities, 137 officers and soldiers embraced martyrdom in 2024 whereas the armed forces paid tribute to the families of these martyrs.

“Amid growing propaganda and lies, it is imperative to hold regular media briefings to debunk false news,” he added.

He pointed out that a massive, illegal political mafia was trying to sabotage the state’s Azm-e-Istehkam (resolve for stability) operation.

Replying to a query regarding the displacement, he said crucial issues were being targeted just for political gains, adding that Azm-e-Istehkam was one such example.

Last month, the federal government approved the operation to counter terrorist attacks across the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

“A narrative is being built that the operation would displace people but the purpose of the operation was only to reinvigorate the already in-place National Action Plan (NAP),” the DG ISPR said, adding that the policy document of the operation clearly mentioned this aspect.

“A massive, illegal, political mafia rose to sabotage the operation and its first move was to make the operations controversial,” he said and added that a “very strong lobby” had a “vested interest” because of which it didn’t want the NAP to succeed. He said the entity in question was “receiving a lot of money” to subvert the operation.

He said if Operation Azm-e-Istehkam was properly implemented, it would not only eliminate terrorism but also lead to societal and national uplift.

Asked about an audio leak of TTP chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, the DG ISPR questioned what brand of religion the militant was preaching that involved blowing up schools, colleges, hospitals, and homes.

“[Such narratives and actions] will be taken to their logical end,” he said, adding that they “only strengthen our resolve that Azm-e-Istehkam is imperative and necessary” for the country’s stability and security.

He said kinetic operations were “underway in a splendid manner” with “four to five operations in every hour”.

He said it was decided in 2014 and 2021 that Counter-Terrorism Departments would be established at the provincial levels and they would be responsible for leading operations against terrorism.

The DG ISPR said the National Action Plan also talked about the regularisation and registration of religious seminaries but only a bit over 16,000 were done and thus the status of 50 percent was unknown. “Is this the responsibility of the army?” he questioned.

On violence during a peace rally in Bannu, the DG ISPR mentioned last week’s terrorist attack on Bannu Cantonment that martyred eight military personnel.

He said the locals had demanded carrying out a peace march the next day and it was agreed that there would be no negative sloganeering. “But when the peace march commenced, some specific negative elements joined to sabotage the gathering,” he added.

He said the rally marched through the point of the terrorist attack and “chanted anti-state slogans and pelted stones”, adding that some armed individuals were already part of the march “who [opened] fire because of which there were injuries”.

He said a temporary wall was also torn down and the supply depot was looted. “This is how it happened. The army’s response was as per SOP (standard operating procedure) and as per orders. When the May 9 incident happened, a specific political group, a chaotic crowd, started propaganda that why didn’t the army stop them.”

The DG ISPR said riot control and law and order were the provincial government’s responsibility.

He said protests should definitely take place and the nation had a right to express its anger over terrorist incidents.

On the recent sit-in by Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), he said the issue at its core was about Palestine. “This is a very important and sensitive issue. It should be clear that the state and army have a clear stance on the issue of Palestine: it is genocide and unacceptable.”

He said Pakistan had sent over 1,100 tonnes of aid to Palestine.

About propaganda on social media, the DG said: “What is happening is digital terrorism.”

He said ‘digital terrorists’ used the tools of cell phones, computers, falsehood and propaganda to impose their views on society, on the same pattern of other terrorists.

The DG ISPR questioned the lack of action against such individuals despite their activities against the country’s leadership and other institutions.