Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Tuesday reiterated the army’s stance that it does not have a leaning towards any political party or ideology.
The armed forces spokesperson was holding a media briefing on the prevailing security situation, counter-terrorism efforts and IBOs to contain terrorism activities across the country. He said the Pakistan Army along with civil and military intelligence agencies is conducting over 70 intelligence based operations (IBOs) on the average across the country to stem out the recent wave of terrorism and resurgence.
Major General Chaudhry said the security forces have so far conducted some 8,269 IBOs since 2023 and apprehended 1,378 terrorists and killed 157 among them during the anti-terrorism operations. He added that for the past many months, the terrorists’ activities were underway to destabilize peace in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. “The security forces are focusing on it. The civil and military law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have made wonderful measures. However, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch Separatist organizations have been found behind all that,” the DG ISPR said.
He said since the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan, some 436 terrorist incidents took place that martyred 293 innocent civilians and injured 521 individuals. “Today, Alhamdulilah (Thanks to Allah) with the support of the nation, there is no ‘No Go Area’ in Pakistan,” he added.
The armed forces spokesperson underlined that there were few terrorist groups making hostile activities whereas proper efforts were underway to exterminate them. He added that a large cache of illegal weapons, ammunition and ordnance was being recovered from the terrorists during various IBOs and further recovery was underway.
The Peshawar Police Lines and Karachi Police Office (KPO) attacks showed the nefarious intentions of the country’s enemies, whereas these terrorists had no contact with Islam, he added. He informed that Peshawar attack was carried out by Jamaat ul Ahrar and the attacker hailed from Afghanistan. He added that the Peshawar attack facilitator was arrested who had trained the suicide attackers and received a sum of Rs7.5 million for facilitation and execution of the attack. “The attack on Peshawar Police Lines was postponed twice due to lack of the people offering prayer in the mosque. In the third time, the attack was executed in the presence of maximum people,” the ISPR DG said. He added that the KPO attack facilitator Aryad Ullah Waheed alias Abdul Aziz was also arrested who received directions from TTP leadership and got Rs 3 million whereas he bought a car from that money to execute the attack. The ISPR DG mentioned that during the anti-terrorism operations since January 2023, some 137 officers and soldiers have embraced martyrdom and 117 got injured. He said that the nation paid tribute to these brave sons of the soil.
He added that the intelligence agencies’ day and night efforts had helped to arrest Baloch terrorist commander Gulzar Alam alias Shambey. Pakistan armed forces’ efforts were not hidden to any and if compared to the world forces under which circumstances and resources it fought against terrorism, there was no precedent to it, he added. “Our fight will continue till termination of the last terrorist,” he vowed.
Highlighting the Western Border Management measures, the ISPR DG said almost 98 percent border fencing along 2,611 kilometers Pak-Afghan international border was completed and 85 percent fencing was completed along Pak-Iran border. He added that 85 percent construction of forts along Pak-Afghan and 33 percent along Pak-Iran border was completed.
During this entire process, he said many soldiers of Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom to complete fencing. He added that 65 percent area in the newly merged tribal districts was cleansed from mines as some 98,000 mines have been neutralized. When questioned about former army chief Gen (R) Qamar Javed Bajwa’s alleged continued influence on the military, the DG ISPR said everyone had their right to analysis but as far as incumbent army chief Gen Asim Munir was concerned, the “centre of real power” was the nation.
“As far as politics is concerned, Pakistan’s army is a national army and all politicians and political parties are respectable for us. You wouldn’t want this and neither would we that the army leans towards a specific political ideology or vision or party.”
The DG ISPR said it was important to understand the rationale behind the above stance. “If any country’s army is used to favour a specific political ideology or religion or vision then it has only led to chaos – this is a reality,” he added.
The head of the military’s media wing said the army had a constitutional and non-political relationship with the government of the time and would always have so, adding that it was inappropriate to paint that relationship with political colour. Regarding criticism of institutions on social media and the lack of government response, the DG ISPR said the Constitution afforded freedom of expression to every citizen but also subjected it to certain laws. “We think the talks on social media against the army, institutions and their officeholders are not only irresponsible and unwise but unconstitutional.”
He added the military realised that some people might engage in this criticism in a personal capacity but “for some of them, there are personal and political reasons and in some cases, the agenda of hostile foreign agencies is being advanced.” DG Sharif said the army’s laws and training did not permit it to respond to every baseless accusation or analysis, adding that the people would also not want the military to fall into fruitless debates and would prefer that it did not divert focus from operational matters.
“We give importance to constructive criticism, but we find it important to say that like any other army, the Pakistan Army can’t be pressured by falsehood and force,” he said. During his presser, Major General Chaudhry said India’s propaganda still continues against Pakistan as he slammed the neighbouring nation for ceasefire violations.
The ISPR DG said that India had committed several ceasefire violations along the LoC this year and Pakistan had also taken down six Indian spy quadcopters. He noted that Pakistan had taken United Nations observers to the Line of Control (LoC) several times, while India had not done the same. “India’s aggressive designs and baseless allegations cannot change history. India cannot change the historical status of Kashmir. If India plans any adventure, Pakistani forces will give a strong response.”
Referring to Operation Swift Retort in 2019 – in which Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian aircraft inside Pakistani airspace and arrested an Indian pilot on the ground – the military spokesperson said that Pakistan could defend its territory. In response to a question, he said the Ministry of Defence had already given a briefing to the Supreme Court regarding the deployment of troops for elections, which was based on “ground realities”. The defence ministry briefed the apex court last week on why the government could not provide army personnel for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – and the report has not been made public yet.
To a question about what was in the report that the defence ministry had submitted to the top court, Maj Gen Chaudhry said that had there been a need to make the briefing provided to Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial public, then it would have already been disclosed. “Those talks were held just between the institutions,” he said. “It is not in the interest of the nation, country, and the army to push the armed forces into politics,” the military’s spokesperson remarked, a position that his predecessors have also maintained.
