After the announcement of a new anti-terrorism drive – Operation Azm-e-Istehkam (Resolve for Stability), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on Saturday called for extending “unwavering support to armed forces and security institutions to root out terrorism from the country”. “[The] issues which were countered seven years ago have now become a serious crisis, again,” Nawaz said in a meeting with PML-N Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Irfan Siddiqui in Murree today. Slamming the opposition’s criticism against Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, the former prime minister said that some elements behind “instability” and “defamation” of the country abroad were not interested in [fortifying] democracy. He demanded all stakeholders to show firm support to the security institutions to eliminate the menace of terrorism. The PML-N’s top leader made the statement after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to organise an all-parties conference (APC) take all stakeholders into confidence on the newly launched anti-terrorism operation – a reinvigorated and re-energised national counter-terrorism drive following a spike in terrorist attacks. The federal cabinet last week approved the launching of the counter-terrorism operation following the National Action Plan’s Central Apex Committee’s recommendations to turn up the heat on militants targeting Pakistan – which would be focused on intelligence-based operations instead of large-scale military action.