Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has welcomed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report that acknowledged its counter-terrorism efforts.

A monitoring team of the UNSC , in its recently published report, lauded Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts by acknowledging that extensive operations against terrorists (in the country) have led to a reduction in the terrorism.

A foreign office statement issued in Islamabad said this is not the first time that the monitoring team has acknowledged Pakistan’s counter terrorism gains.

Earlier, in February 2018, the monitoring team in its 21st report had also noted with appreciation that Pakistani military operations have “denied space for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to establish an organisational structure in the area.

Terrorist attacks claimed by the ISIL are mainly carried out by members of local groups with cross-border planning and support by ISIL. Besides UNSC monitoring team, the improvement in overall security situation in Pakistan has also been acknowledged by many neutral observers, including the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) of the Institute for Economics, which in its 2017 report mentioned the decrease in terrorism incidents in Pakistan.

The UN Security Council 1267 sanctions committee oversees the implementation of the 1267 sanctions regime.

The committee is supported in its work by Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team which is also responsible for publishing periodic reports on implementation of the sanctions measures by member states.

The spokesman of the foreign office says Pakistan remains committed to defeat terrorism at immense human and economic cost.

“Pakistan’s widely recognized successes against terrorism were possible due to its unwavering resolve and indiscriminate counter terrorism efforts”, the spokesman remarked.