ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that Pakistan was in the forefront in the war against terrorism and was determined to take the battle to the den of extremists.

Speaking at a ceremony held to mark the conclusion of a course for the Crisis Response Team at the PM Secretariat here, Mr Gilani said the need of the hour was to confront serious threats before they emerged.

The war on terror cannot be won by taking defensive positions. He said the battle had to be taken to the doorsteps of the extremists. The course, meant exclusively for women police officers, was conducted by the Ministry of Interior in collaboration with the US State Department under its Diplomatic Security Services and Anti-Terrorism Assistance Programme.

Mr Gilani said that the war on terror was Pakistan’s own war.

“We are not being attacked by an outside military power or a known army as the enemy lurks silently within our society thus it is our own war,” he said.

The prime minister said there was a need to be on guard all the time and try to recognise the enemy. He appealed to the nation to rise to the occasion and do its part to win this war. “It is our collective duty to fight these faceless terrorists by digging them out of their hiding places, disrupting their plans and confronting the worst threats before they emerge.”

US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, who attended the ceremony, said that the United States considered Pakistan as its strong ally in the war on terror and extremism and it was ready to work in close collaboration with the democratic government.