Islamabad: Director General ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar says significant achievements have been made in all the domains of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad to ensure durable peace across the country.
Addressing a news conference in Rawalpindi on Monday afternoon on completion of four years of Radd-ul-Fasaad, he said the operation was launched to restore people’s confidence in the state and make terrorists completely ineffective.
The DG ISPR said the security forces carried out the operation under two-pronged strategy of counter-terrorism and counter- violence with the support of people, which has produced positive results in various areas.
Giving details of the operation and its dividends, Major General Babar Iftikhar said 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 kilometers through this operation.
The DG ISPR said 353 terrorists were killed and hundreds of others were arrested during the operation.
He said most of the over 5000 threat alerts were neutralized before their materialization during the last four years. He said over 72,000 illegal weapons and five million ammunition were recovered. He said 497 border posts were set up. He said 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 police and Levies personnel were also trained.
He said 96 percent temporarily displaced persons have returned to their homes.
The DG ISPR said several steps were taken under the National Action Plan, including setting up of military courts. He said 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 over 1200 sub-nationalists have laid down their arms before security forces. He said spread of hate-speech was also controlled considerably.
He said 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 said under de-radicalization, over 5,000 people have been reintegrated to the society.
The DG ISPR Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad has contributed a lot to improve law and order situation in Karachi as well. He said the city’s position on Crime Index has dropped from sixth in 2014 to 106 today. He said socio-economic dividends of the operation have been witnessed in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said 831 development projects worth over 31 billion rupees are being carried out there. He said several development projects are also being implemented in Balochistan. He said sports activities have also been restored across the country.
The DG ISPR said 23rd March will be celebrated with zeal and zest. He said national parade will be organized on the day to disseminate the message of “one nation, one destination (Aik quom aik Manzil) “.
To a question, he said country’s peace is directly linked with peace in Afghanistan. He said Pakistan wishes to see peace beyond borders especially in Afghanistan. He said we will continue our support in this regard.
The DG ISPR said our enemy is engaged in a massive campaign of fifth-generation warfare’ to obstruct Pakistan’s road to prosperity. Expressing satisfaction over governmental measure to deal with new hybrid warfare, he called for national unity and cohesion in defeating enemy’s designs in this regard.
