The National Security Committee has agreed to launch an “all-out comprehensive operation” against terrorists in the wake of rising militancy in the country.

“This all-round and comprehensive operation to eliminate the scourge of all forms and types of terrorism from Pakistan will also include efforts at political, diplomatic security, economic and social levels,” the NSC statement said issued after the meeting.

The NSC is the highest security forum in the country and its meeting are attended by ministers for defence, interior, and information, chief ministers of the four provinces, and chiefs of the three armed forces. ISI chief and senior military officials also participate in the NSC meetings.

Friday’s meeting was held in continuation of the NSC meeting held after the terrorist attack on January 2, 2023 in Peshawar Police Lines.

The NSC has formed a high-level committee, which will make recommendations regarding its implementation and its limitations within two weeks.

The committee, which met in Islamabad to discuss the security situation, termed the recent spate of terrorism as the result of a “soft corner and reckless policy” towards the banned terrorist organisation Tehreek-e-Taliban. Such an approach was contrary to public expectations and wishes, it added.

As a result, the NSC claimed militants were not only allowed to return without hindrance but “dangerous terrorists” from the outlawed group were also released from jails in the name of “confidence building”.

Many people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which shares a border with neighbouring Afghanistan, took to the streets in September last year against the presence of troublemakers. They organised peace protests to denounce the militancy.

The Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led committee claimed that Pakistan’s stability was hurt in the wake of terrorist attacks by those returning terrorists, who apparently got support from various terrorist organisations in Afghanistan.

Islamabad has many times demanded of Kabul to not allow its soil used as a “launch pad” for attacks against other countries. The United States has also made similar demands while urging the interim government to follow the Doha agreement. But the neighbouring country has denied such claims and urged Pakistan not to blame them for violence at home.

The committee appreciated the intelligence agency’s “successful operation” in which security forces arrested the “most wanted terrorist Gulzar Imam alias Shambe, who was the founder and leader of the banned outfit Baloch National Army and ‘Brass’. He was “involved” in various terrorist activities for a long time.

It condemned efforts to spread apparently foreign-sponsored toxic propaganda against state institutions and their leadership on social media under the guise of ulterior motives for dividing and the growing hatred in society. It affects national security, the statement said.

“All possible efforts will be made to maintain the peace and order achieved by the great sacrifices and continuous efforts of the martyrs,” it said and reiterated the determination to thwart the nefarious intentions of the enemies of the country.

Pakistan has seen an uptick in terrorist attacks after the end of the shaky ceasefire agreed with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban in November last year.

The Pakistani Taliban share common lineage and ideals with the Afghan Taliban, led by Hibatullah Akhundzada who issues edicts from his hideaway in the southern city of Kandahar.

The banned TTP – formed in 2007 by Pakistani militants who splintered off from the Afghan Taliban – once held sway over swathes of KP but were routed by an army offensive after 2014.

But over the first year of Taliban rule, Pakistan witnessed a 50 per cent uptick in militant attacks, concentrated in the border regions with Afghanistan and Iran, according to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies.

Premise for delay

“Operations have already been under way…but this statement will be a premise for the government to say it can’t hold elections in the middle of a country-wide operation,” Zahid Hussain, an author of books on militancy in Pakistan, told Reuters.

The court has already rejected the government’s argument, but Friday’s security committee statement brings with it the key endorsement of military.

“This is a very smartly crafted statement. It (the government) gets the military’s backing without the military giving any sort of political statement,” Hussain added.

Government and military spokespersons did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Former PM Khan has been pushing for elections amid rising anger at the government over decades-high inflation and a crippling economic slowdown as it tries to navigate tough IMF-backed economic reforms.

NSC meeting convened amid political, economic instability

The current NSC meeting has been called as the power struggle between the government and the Supreme Court continues. Earlier on Thursday, the National Assembly rejected the top court order to conduct Punjab snap polls by passing a resolution.

Soon after the meeting was announced Thursday night, PTI’s Imran Khan said that the move indicated the government was planning to delay Punjab polls.

Khan claimed that the meeting was being convened to “try and use” security as a pretext for the postponement of elections.

“This will pit armed forces directly against not just judiciary but also the nation,” he said in a tweet after the development in the NA. The resolution is the latest in the standoff between the government and the apex court after the April 4 decision that fixed May 14 as the date for the Punjab election.

Last month, Parliament passed a bill – Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 – curtailing the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan. The government had come into action after two judges, hearing the election delay petition, recused themselves from the case.

PM Shehbaz Sharif’s government has been saying the country’s poor economic condition didn’t allow spending on the snap polls and then on general elections due later this year.

But, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has alleged that the ruling coalition was running away from the election and it wanted to “minus” him from politics in order to bring PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to power. A claim the government has denied.

The former ruling party has also accused the government of a “witchhunt” amid the arrest of their leaders. Ali Amin Gandapur of PTI was “arrested” by police on Thursday from Dera Ismail Khan.

PTI’s Asad Umar was of the view that Friday’s NSC meeting was “very important”, stressing that the next four to five days were “crucial”.

“The government has to issue funds to the ECP on April 10. If the government does not do this, this decision will be regarded as contempt of court,” he told a private news channel. He went on to add that presenting a resolution against the SC order was unconstitutional.

“We have not only to hold elections but also to bring the country out of the crisis. The implementation of martial law will further increase the problems of the country,” Umar said.