Daily Times

The Central Apex Committee, which met here Friday with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair, agreed that the elimination of terrorism, economic revival, and political stability were interlinked.

Since Pakistan could not afford internal instability, national solidarity, unity, and collective efforts were the need of the hour, and in order to achieve those targets, national consensus should be evolved and hurdles in its way should be removed, a press release issued after the Apex Committee meeting said.

The meeting was attended by the Chief of Army Staff, federal ministers for Finance, Interior, Information and Broadcasting, and Law and Justice, chief ministers of all the provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir Prime Minister, heads of civil and military intelligence agencies, Secretary Interior, all chief secretaries, inspectors general of police of all provinces, including AJK, GB and Islamabad, and the Coordinator of National Counter-terrorism Authority (NACTA).

During the meeting, the terrorist incidents, particularly the incident at Peshawar Police Lines Mosque of January 30, 2023, and the Karachi Police Chief Office incident on February 19, and the later-on situation were reviewed in detail.

The representatives of intelligence agencies briefed the participants on the overall security situation and on the action taken against the terrorists.

The Inspector General of Police Sindh informed the committee about the details of the attack on the office of Karachi Police Chief.

The meeting participants saluted all the law enforcement agencies, including the armed forces, Rangers, Frontier Corps, Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), and police for showing exemplary bravery and courage against terrorists and paid tribute to the martyred officers and jawans.

They considered the issue of the non-availability of funds approved in the past for the Karachi Police and security and directed that all obstacles in the way of projects concerning police, CTD, and security should be removed without any further delay.

Protection of national security and the life and property of people was the basic constitutional responsibility which should be performed with national passion, sincerity, focus, and the best of abilities, they noted.

They said the federal government would extend full cooperation and assistance to the provinces for fulfilling the responsibility of ensuring peace and security. The meeting considered the role of media, especially social media during the incidents of terrorism and operations of security forces. It was briefed that during the operation of the security forces such information was also telecast from which terrorists and their facilitators could have benefited and could have impacted the security operation, putting the lives of officers and jawans in danger.

It was suggested that guidance should be taken from the SOPs (standard operating procedures) and regulations concerning cyberspace and terrorism in other countries.

In that context, with the consultation of media houses and all relevant stakeholders, a suitable procedure should be followed so that in an emergency situation rumours, misleading information, and fear among the public could be stopped and there should be no difficulties in carrying out the security operation. The participants also agreed that in case of an emergency situation, a focal person should be given the responsibility to disseminate facts to the media and the public. They also reviewed progress on the implementation of the National Action Plan and the decisions taken in the last meeting of the apex committee. A committee headed by Federal Minister for Law and Justice informed about the progress made in the investigation against terrorists, and in taking measures for making the process of prosecution and sentencing effective.