ISLAMABAD: A corps commanders conference held at the General Headquarters on Tuesday, with Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in the chair, undertook comprehensive review of recent surge in terrorist incidents in the country, particularly tribal districts and Balochistan.

According to the ISPR, the meeting which discussed geo-strategic, regional and national security environment while paying glowing tribute to civil and military martyrs for their ultimate sacrifice, declared that geographical and ideological frontiers of the country would be defended at all costs.

“We have paid a very heavy price to achieve this peace and stability and any attempt to destabilise the country will be responded firmly,” Gen Bajwa was quoted as saying.

The meeting took place days after 20 security personnel were martyred in two terrorist attacks in north and southwestern parts of the country.

A military convoy was attacked in the Razmak area of North Waziristan district with improvised explosive devices, claiming lives of one officer and five soldiers.

North Waziristan — once a hotbed of militancy — is one of the seven former tribal agencies where the Army has conducted a series of operations since 2014 to eliminate terrorist hideouts.

In another incident on the same day, terrorists opened fire on a security detail escorting a convoy of the state-run Oil and Gas Development Company near Ormara, a town in Gwadar district of Balochistan, killing seven soldiers and seven private security guards.

The corps commanders’ meeting took place at a time when Hezb-i-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is in Pakistan along with a delegation to discuss Afghan peace process with relevant authorities.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2020