Days after launch, Pakistan's 'reinvigorated' anti-terror op loses vigour

Pakistan's opposition parties have opposed the recently announced 'Azm-i-Istehkam' national counter-terrorism campaign, claiming that it will weaken the country instead of securing it

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Rallies and 'jirgas' (tribal councils) were held in various cities of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Sunday in opposition to Islamabad's plan to launch its recently announced 'Azm-i-Istehkam' military operation against militants, even after the Pakistani government clarified last week that the campaign would not be a large-scale, kinetic military operation and would not cause mass displacement of local populations.

Reporting on these rallies and councils, Pakistani publication Dawn said on Monday that youth activists, who took out a motorcycle rally against any possible military offensive, were seen holding placards inscribed with slogans for peace and white flags.

The activists reportedly said that the people of Khyber had been hit hard by both the militancy and the military operations meant to counter it. They added that thousands of militancy-hit families were still living in miserable conditions and that military operations always led to the displacement of a large number of people.

The various rallies and councils were reportedly attended by people from different walks of life -- from tribal elders and youths to political activists. According to Dawn, protestors in some parts of the KP province also said that over the past two years, several policemen and elders had been targeted by militants.

Nonetheless, by and large, they still rejected any kind of military operation in the region, with Dawn reporting that they had asked the Pakistani government and law enforcement agencies to instead focus on targeted and intelligence-based operations against militants. At least one of these rallies was also reportedly organised by Islamist political party Jamaat-i-Islami.

Pakistani govt plays down scale of proposed op

Sunday's protests came despite a late-night clarification by the Pakistani government last week that the campaign to be launched under the banner of 'Azm-i-Istehkam' would neither be a large-scale and kinetic military operation nor would it cause mass displacement.

Reporting on the government's clarification, Dawn said that it came after intense criticism from Pakistan's opposition parties, which said that the government's plans to launch military action had been announced without consulting parliament.

Announced on June 22, the plans for a "reinvigorated and re-energised" national counter-terrorism campaign originally entailed increasing the kinetic efforts of the Pakistani armed forces, with support from the country's law enforcement agencies, and bringing in effective legislation to address legal gaps that had hindered effective prosecution of terrorism-related cases in the past.

Dawn reported that a statement from the Pakistani PM's Office, issued in response to the opposition's misgivings, admitted that previous kinetic military operations, which had been carried out to "physically dislodge terrorists from their known locations" that had became no-go areas, had "required mass displacement of the local population".

However, the statement claimed that since there were no such no-go areas left in Pakistan and terrorists' ability to conduct large-scale organised operations had been "decisively degraded by earlier kinetic operations", no large-scale military operation was now being contemplated that would require displacement of population.

The statement added that the proposed 'Azm-i-Istehkam' operation would "energise" intelligence-based operations to root out terrorists, violent extremism, and the crime-terror nexus in Pakistan.

Pakistani opposition parties slam proposed op

According to Dawn, the planned campaign has met with sharp criticism from opposition parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-Fazl) and the Awami National Party (ANP).

Moreover, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur even claimed that the planned campaign was not discussed with him.

During a press conference last week, JUI-Fazl chief Maulana Fazl said that the decision to conduct the planned operation would make Pakistan "weak".

Expressing similar concerns, the ANP had said that it would not support the proposed operation unless its reservations were addressed.

In a statement issued by KP President Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the ANP said that the situation in Pakistan had reached a point where people "do not believe in negotiations as well as operations against militants anymore". The statement claimed that after a previous round of negotiations, which had been conducted under a former intelligence chief, the militants had taken over and led to the displacement of people. The statement added that military operations had led to the same situation.

Last but not least, the statement claimed that the militant masterminds were located in Pakistani Punjab. It added that there were around 70 banned organisations that had resurfaced with different names, and if the government needed to start an operation, it should start from them.

Pakistan still asks US for small arms for op

Despite the Pakistani government's clarification that 'Azm-i-Istehkam' would not involve a large-scale military operation, Pakistan's envoy to the US, Masood Khan, urged Washington last week to provide small arms and modern equipment to the country to ensure the operation's success.

According to Dawn, while addressing US policymakers at a Washington think tank, Ambassador Khan said, "Pakistan has launched 'Azm-i-Istehkam' to oppose and dismantle terrorist networks. For that, we need sophisticated small arms and communication equipment."