Condemning the devastating suicide bomb blast inside a mosque in Peshawar, which killed at least 100 people and injured over 220, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif called for a nationwide counter-terrorism operation like Operation Zarb Azab. He stressed the need for consensus.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Tuesday, he said that the Army Public School (APS) tragedy in Peshawar – which took place in December 2014 – has not yet been forgotten as one of the terror threats in the country. And the event happened.
“A successful war was fought against terrorism from 2010 to 2017,” the federal minister said, adding that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led government ruling the country had ended the menace of terrorism.
“Several APS-like incidents took place in KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa],” Asif said, adding that terrorism claimed many precious lives.
Referring to banned terrorist organizations, the defense minister said the House (lower house of parliament) was told about two years ago that talks could be held with “those people” but no final decision was taken on the matter. could go He strongly criticized the example of the Imran Khan-led government’s dialogue with banned organizations.
He further said that thousands of people settled in Pakistan after the Afghan war.
Emphasizing the need for national unity, the minister said “we ourselves have sown the seeds of terrorism”.
