LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that terrorists will be held accountable for every drop of blood by great Pakistanis and they will not rest until they flush terrorists out from their soil.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, the chief minister said he had met families of those who lost their lives and found them still very determined to fight terrorists.

“During my meetings with the injured, they came up as more dedicated than before in war against terrorism,” he said.

Despite the feelings of grief, the families of those killed were found rich with the patriotic passions. Coward enemy couldn’t defeat courageous Pakistani nation.

“We have to win this battle of survival at every cost and have to fight this battle till the last terrorist. In the war on terror, we will not let waste a drop of blood of Pakistanis and will fulfill our responsibility to give peaceful, secure and prosperous Pakistan to our future generations,” he said.

The chief minister termed the blast in Lahore a conspiracy of our enemy. Everyone was saddened over the loss of precious human lives and the entire nation shared grieves of the families of those killed in the incident of terrorism.

He said that DIG (Traffic) retired Capt Syed Ahmad Mubeen, SSP Zahid Gondal and other police officials had sacrificed their precious lives for the great cause.

“These policemen have set a great example of dutifulness. We are also saddened over the killing of other citizens. The nation will always remember their immortal sacrifices,” he said.

Mr Shahbaz said that terrorists were the worst enemies of humanity, adding that these coward activities of enemies of peace couldn’t shatter the dedication and enthusiasm of the nation.

Pakistani nation will surely succeed in fight against terrorism and the holy land of Pakistan will be cleansed from unholy presence of terrorists, the CM said.

DEVELOPMENT: The CM presided over a high-level meeting to review progress of ongoing development projects for the welfare of people.

Addressing the meeting, he said the PML-N government considered the welfare and wellbeing of the people its prime objective, and added that public welfare was pivot of the government.

The development in education, healthcare, provision of clean drinking water and other social sectors is our priorities. Composite strategy has been adopted for the balanced development of urban and rural areas and our every step is taken for the welfare of the impecunious strata and provision of basic amenities to them.

He said the pace of development, with which the schemes of public welfare are being completed, were unprecedented.

The transparency and high-standard was ensured in the development projects. The resources were trust of the nation and people could benefit from these projects with their correct use, he said.

The CM directed the authorities concerned to complete schemes of the current financial year by June 30, saying he was personally monitoring progress on mega projects relating to welfare of people of southern Punjab.

Mr Shahbaz said the latest infrastructure was very much important for rapid development and the government had spread a network of infrastructural development projects.

He said the government had provided more resources for development and prosperity of southern Punjab as compared to its population, as mega projects worth billions of rupees have been completed there.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2017