Tuesday, 23 February, 2021 I 10 Rajab, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 236 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition
Significant achievementS made in all domainS of operation raddul faSaad: iSpr dg g
MaJ gen IfTIkhar SayS MIlITary OPeraTIOn waS launcheD wITh a TwO-PrOngeD STraTegy InvOlvIng The cOunTerTerrOrISM anD cOunTer-exTreMISM DOMaIn
rawalpindi Staff report
i
nTer-Services Public relations (ISPr) Director-general (Dg) Major general babar Iftikhar on Monday explained the importance of Operation raddul fasaad, wherein the civil law enforcement agencies and society as a whole have a pivotal role to play in the fight against terrorism. During a press conference at the general headquarters in rawalpindi, the ISPr Dg shared the details about the dividends earned through the operation that was launched on february 22, 2017, by the army under chief of army Staff (cOaS) general Qamar Javed bajwa. he said that the strategic intent of Operation raddul fasaad was to ensure a peaceful and stable Pakistan. Maj gen Iftikhar said that the armed forces and the masses have been successfully facing national security challenges and will continue
to tackle them as a nation in the days to come. he maintained that “every Pakistani is a sepoy of raddul fasaad”. he further explained: “while armed forces fight terrorists, terrorism and extremism can only be defeated by the civil law enforcement agencies and society as a whole.” Major general babar Iftikhar said that a total of 375,000 intelligence-based operations were carried out across the country since the start of the operation in 2017. he said the state writ was restored over 7500 square kilometres through this operation. “Operation raddul fasaad was launched with a two-pronged strategy involving the counter-terrorism and counterextremism domain,” he added, wherein one prong focused on counter-terrorism and the other focused on violent extremism. The ISPr Dg said that 353 terrorists were killed and hundreds of others were arrested during the operation. he stressed that most of the over 5,000
coronaviruS in
pakiStan
CONFIRMED CASES:
572,334
LAST UPDATED AT 7:52 AM ON FEBRUARY 22, 2021
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
16
RECOVERED:
NEW CASES:
1,160 DEATHS:
535,491 12,617 SINDH:
PUNJAB:
256,220
167,819
KP:
BALOCHISTAN:
AJK/GB:
ISLAMABAD:
71,043
18,988
9,828/4,951 43,485
threat alerts were neutralized before their materialization during the last four years. he said that over 72,000 illegal weapons and five million ammunition were recovered. he added that 497 border posts were set up. he further said that demining was also carried out in tribal districts. under capacity enhancement of law enforcement agencies, Major general babar Iftikhar said 58 new wings of fc were raised and 15 others will be established. he said that police and levies personnel were also trained. The ISPr Dg said that 96 per cent of temporarily displaced persons have returned to their homes. he said that several steps were taken under the national action Plan, including the setting up of military courts. he also said that 717 cases were referred to the military courts. he said 344 terrorists were awarded death sentence in these cases, and 58 of them were implemented. he said 106 other terrorists were given life imprisonment. Major general babar Iftikkar said that over 1,200 sub-nationalists have laid down their arms before security forces. he said that the spread of hate-speech was also controlled considerably. he also said that the initiative of Paigham-e-Pakistan has considerably helped control extremism in the country, and the religious scholars have played an important role in this regard. he further said that under de-radicalisation, over 5,000 people have been reintegrated into society. Operation raddul fasaad has contributed a lot to improve the law and order situation in karachi as well, he maintained.
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Strong political parties necessary for good democracy: SC g
DeMOcracy STrengTheneD The MaSSeS anD IT SPOke abOuT cOllecTIvISM, SayS JuSTIce banDIal iSlaMaBad app
Supreme court (Sc) Judge Justice umar ata bandial on Monday remarked that strong political parties were necessary for good democracy. a five-member larger bench of the apex court headed by chief Justice of Pakistan (cJP) gulzar ahmed and comprising Justice Mushir alam, Justice umar ata bandial, Justice Ijaz ul ahsan and Justice yahya afridi heard the presidential reference seeking an opinion on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections. During the course of proceedings, PPP Senator raza rabbani argued that the bill to amend article 226 was pending in the Senate. he said that the government had also issued an ordinance not to apply article 226 to the Senate elections. In the 1973 constitution, no election was held through secret ballot ex-
Four female aid workers gunned down in North Waziristan g
One kIlleD, 10 abDucTeD In anOTher TerrOrIST IncIDenT newS deSk
four women aid workers among five people were gunned down while ten others were abducted in two separate incidents in Mir ali district of north waziristan on Monday. In the first incident, four women aid workers were ambushed by two gunmen as they were driving through a village in north waziristan district, according to local police chief Shafiullah gandapur, who said just one passenger survived the assault. “no one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far but it was surely an act of terrorism,” he said. gandapur said that the aid workers were affiliated with a programme run by Sabawon non-governmental Organization (ngO) to develop household skills for women. The driver was injured in the attack. The incident occurred around 9:30 am when the women were coming from bannu and adjoining areas to teach sewing and embroidery to women of a local village when armed masked men on a mo-
cept for those for the post of the prime minister and the chief minister, he said, adding that elections for the aforementioned ministerial posts were again held by open ballot after the 18th amendment. he said that the constitution was amended to hold elections for the prime minister and the chief ministers through secret balloting in 1985 elections. he stated that the purpose of holding the election of the premier through an open ballot was to ensure party discipline. The elections of the speaker and the chairman of the Senate were held through secret ballot because these positions were above political affiliation, he added. Justice bandial maintained that there was no provision in the constitution for holding Senate elections through an open ballot. The rights of provinces and political parties were two different things, he added.
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MORE INSIDE
Elements wanting to steal Senate elections stain on democracy: Imran STORY ON PAGE 03
PTI leader alleges he was beaten in jail in video statement STORY ON PAGE 02 torcycle opened fire on the ngO’s vehicle killing the workers on spot. The driver was rushed to Mir ali hospital where his condition was said to be out of danger. The deceased women had been identified as ayesha bibi, Jawariya bibi, naheed bibi and Irshad bibi. all hailed from bannu including the driver. One of the women, Maryam bibi, was lucky as she jumped out of the car before the incident occurred. SP aqiq hussain said that the police are conducting raids to nab the suspects. responding to a question,
he said that the ngO did not have a police nOc and was operating in the area without it. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, according to a report received from the Shivah area of Mir ali, unidentified armed men had set up a roadblock at the Tandy area the previous night. They opened fire on a vehicle that did not stop, resultantly the driver of the vehicle, wali gul, a resident of Shivah, was killed on the spot, after which, according to initial reports, ten people were abducted, including four locals.
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India’s smear campaign against Pakistan has no limits: Qureshi STORY ON BACK PAGE
PTI, PDM intensify lobbying for winning Senate polls STORY ON BACK PAGE