Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Hours after a bomb blast in Lahore killed at least eight people, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that despite internal security threats, Pakistan Army is fully prepared for an effective response against the “perpetual threat from the East”.

An apparent reference to neighboring India, the COAS made these remarks while addressing to troops at Goma and Gilgit on Thursday, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR),

“We all are proud to be soldiers of Pakistan and defending it irrespective of terrain or weather difficulties.” He also visited Siachen, where he laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada of Gyari. “We owe our independence to sacrifices of our Shuhada. Nothing is nobler than laying one’s life in defence of the motherland,” the army chief was quoted as saying.

Later, the chief also interacted with notables of Gilgit-Baltistan. “The COAS assured them that the army was extending its full support to all initiatives aimed at ensuring the rights of G-B as part of the federation,” the military’s media wing said.Pakistan has been hit by a series of bomb attacks in recent days, claiming more than 100 lives.

At least 88 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sindh’s Sehwan town last week. In response, Pakistan Army launched on Wednesday a countrywide security operation codenamed ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad’.