Pak army chief vows to sever militants from facilitators

Pakistan's new army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today vowed to make every effort to delink the militants operating in the remote parts of the country from their facilitators in urban areas.
"Nexus between terrorists in remote areas and their facilitators in urban centres will be severed whatever the amount of effort and time," he said.
The army chief reviewed the gains of counter-terrorism operations and said focus must remain on indiscriminate, intelligence-based combing operations.
Gen Bajwa was visiting Corps Headquarters in Peshawar, where he was briefed about the operations in Pakistan's tribal regions and the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
He said the army will stand by the tribal people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in northwestern Pakistan and work with the government to bring about an equitable development for peace in the entire region.

The chief of army staff also reviewed progress in border management and directed officials to expedite all construction work and capacity-building of Frontier Corps to check illegal cross-border movements.

Gen Bajwa was informed about concentration of terrorists across the border in Afghanistan, and their continued efforts for an activity inside Pakistan, the army said.
He said border management will have to be bilateral both by Pakistan and Afghanistan on their respective sides.
He was also briefed on the progress of the return of the temporarily-displaced persons in tribal region and said the process for their dignified return should be completed.

Gen Bajwa took over from Gen Raheel Sharif two weeks ago.