Islamabad — Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that the court-martial of (retired) General Faiz Hameed is a legal and judicial process, and there should be no speculation about it.
He said this while briefing senior journalists.
Responding to a question about the attack on Afghanistan, the DG ISPR said that whenever we carry out an attack, we announce it openly — in October we conducted an attack on Afghanistan and informed everyone.
He said that whenever Pakistan conducts an attack, it does so openly and never targets civilians. “We are a state and respond as a state. Blood and trade cannot go together. It cannot happen that we face attacks and continue trade. We are not against the Afghan people but against terrorism.”
He said that committees have been formed against terrorism and representatives of the army are also part of these committees. Regarding the nexus being formed against the economy, he said the Balochistan government is working against it.
The DG ISPR said that the Balochistan government is fully implementing the National Action Plan against terrorism.
He said that the court-martial of (retired) General Faiz Hameed is a legal and judicial process, and speculation about the court-martial matter should be avoided. “As soon as the process concludes and any decision comes, we will inform you.”
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the army and FC are managing the border. “In the Doha and Istanbul talks we explained many things to them. Sometimes they say they will send 6,000 TTP terrorists into Pakistan.”
The DG ISPR said that “they are teaching their children the wrong lessons. They talk about Greater Pashtunistan. Senior officials within the Afghan government themselves are issuing statements that they will attack. American weapons were also found in the terrorist attack in Mianwali. These missiles and weapons have become a threat to the whole world.”
He said that these terrorists are using American weapons and American bulletproof vehicles. “These weapons have become their livelihood. They buy these weapons with drug money. We do not see any difference between TTP and TTA.”
He added that these weapons are in the hands of the Afghan Taliban. “We have shown these weapons to our American counterparts — weapons worth 7.2 billion dollars that were left behind in Afghanistan. In 29 incidents of terrorism, American weapons have been recovered.”
The DG ISPR said that the war against terrorism has to be won by the army and the people of Pakistan, and that Pakistan will win whatever war is being fought against terrorism.
He said, “If you are a government, you should behave like a state; you should not act as a non-state actor. We told Afghan authorities: how long will you continue calling yourselves an interim government? In negotiations with Afghan officials, we were told that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used for attacks, but the facts are completely different. In these operations, 607 security personnel have been martyred.”
He said that from this January until now, 67,000 operations have been conducted. “In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,387 operations were carried out; in Balochistan, 3,485 operations were conducted.”
The DG ISPR said that most operations are taking place in Balochistan, while operations are also underway in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Among these martyrs, 11 were FC personnel and 14 were civilians. Operations are being conducted daily. In these operations, 210 terrorists have been killed. In the current month of November, 4,910 operations have taken place, in which 57 personnel of the army and FC have been martyred — 22 of them from the army.”
He said that the border has been tightened and smuggling has been curbed even if permits exist. “The army and the Balochistan government have reduced diesel smuggling from Iran from 20.2 billion. Stopping smuggling at the border is the responsibility of the provincial government.”
