ISLAMABAD: Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif performed on Tuesday the ground-breaking of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre being set up near Kharian.

“The centre will be a state-of-the-art facility with a large capacity to impart quality training to troops for combating terrorism, in all types of terrains,” a military spokesman said about the planned complex.

The army already has a counter-terrorism centre at the site, which is imparting training to personnel of armed forces and civilian law-enforcement agencies. It is now being upgraded as a national centre.

The army also plans to provide training to troops from other countries at the centre.

The army chief met the troops currently undergoing the training and “appreciated the standards” of training. He said “since we will have to fight the menace of terror together with other LEAs across the nook and corner of the country, the army will do its part to train paramilitary force, police, constabulary and levies at this facility”.

Gen Sharif said the “army is fully prepared to deter and defeat any form of aggression across the entire spectrum of threat”.

He said: “With its unique accomplishment of confronting both conventional and sub-conventional threat, Pakistan Army is respected for its achievements and sacrifices the world over.”

A military official said: “The new centre will focus on joint approach and progressive training. It will provide specialist training in urban, jungle and riverine operations in multiple scenarios.”

Different types of terrains would be replicated inside the complex to provide real-time training to the soldiers preparing for counter-insurgency operations.

Published in Dawn, October 1st , 2014