Militancy
On December 23, security forces
arrested five TTP militants in the Qila Saifullah district of Balochistan. Weapons and explosives were also recovered from the militants.
[1]
On December 24, police
conducted a raid, killing two militant commanders, in Surjani town of Karachi.
[2]
On December 24, an improvised explosive device (IED)
detonated outside a shop, injuring at least 36 people, on Prince Road in Quetta.
[3]
On December 23, a terror plot was
foiled when an unattended bag with a bomb was found on a wagon in Taxila, Rawalpindi disrict. The bomb was successfully defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad.
[4]
On December 23, security forces
conducted a search operation, killing six militants, in lower Mohmand Agency.
[5]
On December 23, unidentified men
blew up an eight inch gas pipeline with an IED in the Pirkoh gas field area of Dera Bugti district, Balochistan.
[6]
According to a December 24 report in
The News, security of jails, courts, Bacha Khan International Airport and other important buildings in Peshawar has been
increased following fresh threats from militants to carry out an attack similar to the December 16 Peshawar school attack.
[7]
On December 24, government prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry
announced that he will challenge the bail order of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi in court next week. Lakhvi was granted bail by an anti-terrorism court last week and is set to be
released from detention on December 25. Chaudhry could not file the appeal on December 23 as originally intended because of the unavailability of a copy of the bail order.
[8]
Peshawar School Attack
On December 23, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Asim Bajwa
denied reports that 11 militants were involved in the Peshawar school attack. Bajwa said the rumors were baseless and that seven militants were involved.
[9]
Counter-Terrorism Efforts
On December 23, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
declared that the state will protect each and every citizen of Pakistan, irrespective of their religion, caste or sect and that he would himself lead the war against terrorism. Prime Minister Sharif reiterated that no distinction will be made between those who commit acts of terror and those who harbor, facilitate and finance them.
[10]
On December 24, army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif
declared that the country’s leadership owed it to the next generation to eliminate the scourge of militancy once and for all. Gen. Sharif added that it was the right time to take “bold decisions.”
[11]
On December 23, the National Action Plan Committee (NAPC)
adopted a majority of the recommendations provided by a working group of anti-terror experts who had proposed an action plan based on 17 recommendations. According to sources, the committee has left it to the leadership of political parties to decide on the establishment of military courts for speedy trial of terrorism-related cases and how madrassas should be reformed. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to discuss the NAPC’s recommendations at an all parties’ conference on December 24.
[12]
On December 24, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
declared that army troops will be withdrawn from the three provinces of Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, if requisitions were not made by those province’s provincial governments for an extension of the deployment of armed forces under Article 245 of the Constitution. Khan clarified that without the enforcement of the article, army personnel can be summoned in court on the request of terrorists’ representatives and held accountable for their actions. Khan made these remarks at the National Action Plan Committee meeting held at Prime Minister Sharif’s house in Islamabad. Khan
added that the army will support the police in provincial governments since the police are not trained for counter-terrorism efforts and that an estimated 10,000 army personnel will be deployed in all four provinces.
[13]
According to a December 24 report in
The News, a Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench has
dismissed a stay order on the execution of five terrorists convicted by a military court. The terrorists had filed appeals to have their cases heard by a civilian court.
[14]