Pakistan eliminated sanctuaries of all terrorist groups: Gen. Asif

 

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor has said that Pakistan has eliminated sanctuaries of all terrorists groups including the Haqqani Network from its soil through a well-thought-out military campaign.

“But all this has come with a huge price.

Besides cost in blood of over 75,000 Pakistanis, there has been loss of more than $123 billion to the national exchequer,” he said in an exclusive interview with Gulf News.

On the possibility of peace between India and Pakistan, he said he believed that all issues between the two nuclear-armed countries, including the core issue of Kashmir, need to be resolved to normalize the bilateral relationship.

The DG ISPR talked about Pakistan’s success in the war against terrorism, Pakistan-India relations and the possibility of peace between the two countries. He also discussed Pakistan’s relations with the UAE and the $54-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which will link Pakistan’s Gwadar Port with China.

To a question as what measures has been taken to eliminate terrorism from Pakistan, he said the country has fought a successful war against terrorism — a war which entered Pakistan through the 2,611-km scantily manned Pak-Afghan border when US-led coalition forces started military operations in Afghanistan against AQ [Al Qaida]. Whereas there are no more organised sanctuaries, for elimination of remaining disorganised scanty residual presence of militants, Operation Raddul Fasaad, a largely intelligence-based operation is in progress, he said.

Effects of operation have visibly reduced the level of violence throughout Pakistan. This residual presence also takes advantage of 2.7 millions Afghan refugees inside Pakistan by morphing into peaceful refugees. There is a need to undertake their respectable repatriation to their country, he added.

Major General Asif Ghafoor said presently there are over 200,000 Pakistani troops deployed in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along Pak-Afghan border. “This deployment is to continue despite successes inside Pakistan as threat continues to reside inside Afghanistan not due to lack of will but lack of capacity of the Afghan forces.”

To safeguard own success, he said Pakistan has started to fence entire 2,611-km length of Pak-Afghan border and construction of new forts and posts along the border to deny free cross-border movement of terrorists.

Besides kinetic operations, Pakistan has undertaken major socio-economic development projects in cleared areas. This is aimed at carrying forward relative stability to enduring peace, he added.

To another question he said Pakistan contingent to Saudi Arabia is part of the ongoing Pak-Saudi bilateral security cooperation since 1982. “It is neither part of Islamic Force nor it shall be deployed outside KSA borders. The role of Pakistani troops is training and advice. Pakistan has similar bilateral security arrangements with other GCC and regional countries,” he said.

Replying to a question as what measures are being taken after the US suspended aid to Pakistan, he said the main US concern is alleged inaction against Haqqani Network. Pakistan has operated against terrorists of all hue and colour including the Haqqani Network.