ISLAMABAD: Acknowledging that the National Action Plan (NAP) on counter-terrorism was not progressing well, the army’s top brass on Friday called for “re-energising” the fight.

The progress on NAP was reviewed at the 181st Corps Commanders Conference.

Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif, who chaired the monthly meeting of the commanders, was quoted by ISPR as having emphasised on “re-energising the National Action Plan in true letter and spirit and achieving discernible results”.

The 20-point NAP was adopted after the Dec 16 Peshawar school attack and it envisaged stringent action against terrorism and militancy. However, four months later disenchantment among the public with the sluggish pace of progress is rising.

The army has so far looked to be in the driving seat for the implementation of the NAP and has borne much of the criticism about the lacklustre NAP implementation.

Gen Sharif’s clarion call for stepping up the fight is, however, directed towards the steps that the civilian administration was required to take.

Gen Raheel Sharif particularly called for taking action against growing extremism in the society alongside the fight against terrorism.

ISPR said: “COAS emphasised the need to concentrate on combating extremism from the society.”

The army is reportedly dissatisfied with the lack of movement on the issue of madressah reforms, proscribed organisations and sectarian groups; foreign funding of the seminaries; and action against hate speech.

Intensification of intelligence-based operations was also stressed at the meeting.

“Intelligence Based Operations must be further intensified to unearth terrorist sleeper cells, and apprehend hiding terrorists and their abettors from urban centres as well,” he said.

The army chief appreciated the achievements in Zarb-i-Azb and Khyber military operations and asked his commanders to remain focused on the ultimate goal of “total elimination of terrorism” from the country.

The progress in tribal areas, he underscored, should be enduring.

“The eventual purpose of the operations is to ensure stability leading to normalcy and prosperity in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Fata,” he said, adding that the return of the displaced people, which started last month, should be “smooth and enduring”.

YEMEN: The conflict in the Middle East was also discussed by the commanders and their advice was to seek an early end to the conflict, or else it would have grave implications for the regional security.

“With regard to the Yemen / Middle East Conflict, the forum deliberated at length on the gravity of the situation and stressed that continuation of the conflict will have serious implications for regional security,” the ISPR said

The military shared its mind on the Yemen crisis as the parliament adopted a resolution in favour of maintaining neutrality in the dispute at the conclusion of a five-day debate on the Saudi call for joining the anti-Houthi coalition.

There seemed to be a consensus at the meeting against jumping into ‘others’ war’.

“Participants dwelt on professional matters, operational preparedness of the army and internal and external security situation of the country,” the military statement said.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2015

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