Pakistan eliminates terrorists 'without discrimination'
- By Li Shen
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 15, 2014
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Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, Director General of Inter Services Public Relations for Pakistan, takes questions at a press conference held at the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing on Oct. 14, 2014. [Photo by Yin Pengxuan] |
"Pakistan aims to eliminate all terrorists and dismantle terrorism organizations without any discrimination," Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, Director General of Inter Services Public Relations for Pakistan, told a China.org.cn reporter at a press conference held at the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing on Oct. 14, 2014.
General Bajwa, the chief spokesman of Pakistani military forces, is in Beijing for a 5-day visit at the invitation of the Chinese Ministry of Defense. At the press conference, he introduced the latest developments in the military operations against terrorists in northwest tribal areas of Pakistan that started this June. "The operations are progressing very well. We have cleared the main logistics and commanding communication centers of the terrorists," he said. In North Waziristan, the Pakistani army found 125 tons of explosives, which would have killed about 85,000 people. According to Bajwa, most of the northwest areas have been cleared and the terrorists there have been dispersed. "We will not allow the terrorists to regroup, nor will we allow them to return to those areas," he added.
Pakistan has been the victim of some of the most severe terrorist attacks in the world, and the country's casualties in the war against terrorism that began in 2002 now number 50,000. Five thousand Pakistani soldiers have lost their lives and 14,000 have been injured. Terrorist attacks have also cost Pakistan US$100 billion. "We have carried out two strategies: first, we want to clear Pakistan from terrorists and terrorism; second, we will never allow Pakistani soil to be used for terrorism anywhere else in the world." Bajwa said. Military forces have killed 44 terrorists and arrested more than 1,000 in Pakistani territory. Bajwa also emphasized that the security situation in the country has improved further as military operations against terrorists have entered the latest phase.
In regard to the recent border tensions with India which have caused 12 civilian deaths and 52 injuries in Pakistan, Bajwa said that the clash was instigated by the Indian side, which fired on the Pakistani border without reason. "During the entire escalation, not even once was the fire initiated from Pakistan. We only responded to the fire from the Indian side," he said. "As long as the Kashmir Issue is unsolved, there is always potential for firing to start."
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