QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri has said that his government will do whatever is needed to restore peace in the province.

Presiding over a meeting here on Thursday, he said the civil and military leadership was on the same page for eliminating terrorism and extremism from the country and for this purpose the National Action Plan (NAP) was being effectively implemented. Over the past one year many successes were achieved under NAP, which helped improved law and order situation in Balochistan, he added.

The meeting which continued for several hours reviewed security situation and progress on some development projects.

The chief minister said there was a need to accelerate implementation on NAP. He said the government would not compromise as far as law and order was concerned, adding that action against terrorists and criminals in the province would continue.

Mr Zehri, who is also the chief of Jhalawan tribe, said that providing protection to life and property of citizens was responsibility of the government and he would do whatever needed to fulfil its responsibilities.

He appreciated the role of security agencies in bringing improvement to the law and order and paid tribute to those personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

Chief Secretary Saifullah Chattah and Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani informed the meeting that crime rate had decline to a great extent in the province because of the implementation of NAP.

“There is a remarkable decline in the incidents of terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and sectarian or targeted killings in the province.”

Inspector General of Police Ahsan Mehboob informed the meeting that Pakistan Army was imparting training to personnel of police and Levies force to increase their abilities to fight against terrorism.

The meeting was also briefed on the drinking water projects being carried out in Quetta and Gwadar and officials said work would be completed soon.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2016