Director General Major Gen Asif Ghafoor Monday said Operation Khyber-4 in Rajgal Valley had been completed and now sanitization of the area was underway.
“Operation Khyber-4 was launched on July 15, and today it
has been completed. Now only cleansing of the hideouts of terrorists
is in progress,” he said this while holding a press conference here at the ISPR office.
Sharing the details, he said during the operation 52
terrorists were killed, while 31 were arrested. “Technically; this
was a well-planned and steady operation. We have been successful in minimizing their (terrorists) effectiveness,” he said.
During the operation, he said two soldiers of Pakistan Army
embraced `Shahadat’, while six were injured.
He said the security forces had recovered around 150
improvised explosive devices (IEds) during the operation adding that
a made in India weapon was also recovered.
He said Pakistan Army’s troops with support of Pakistan Air
Force took part in the operation.
Director General ISPR informed that around 250 km square
area near Rajgal Valley had been cleared. “About 95 per cent
of the temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) have returned to
their homes after completion of the operation” he said adding
that the remaining five per cent TDPs had themselves not gone back.
He said that around 250 cross-border attacks from Afghanistan
had been thwarted during the current year.
He also underlined the need for FATA reforms, and said Pakistan
Army had already conveyed its recommendations in that regard to the government.
He also informed that a terrorist network behind attacking
a Sunni mosque in Rawalpindi in 2013 had also been apprehended. He
said the terrorists, attacked the mosque of the same sect to which they belonged. They had been instructed by their handlers to dress in black
clothes to give the attack a sectarian look.
During the press conference the journalists were also shown the statements of the two arrested terrorists, in which they confessed
that they set the place ablaze and opened the fire.
DG ISPR stated that the sectarian conflict was not started
from where the state enemies had planned to initiate it. He said some
of the militants tasked with inciting sectarianism in Pakistan were associated with the group of Kulbhushan Jadav, the self-confessed
Indian spy.
He also informed that Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif was the actual target of July 24 suicide attack near Arfa Karim IT Park, Lahore. “According to our investigation, Chief Minister Punjab was the
real target of that attack. After failing to target him
they (terrorists) changed their plan and attacked the police,” he added.
He said the perpetrators of the attack had been
apprehended, however their identity was not being revealed at
this time.
DG ISPR said there was no organized infrastructure of
any terrorist organization in Pakistan. He said law and order in
Karachi had improved a lot due to the ongoing operation adding
that during the continuing year just one incident of terrorism took
place in the city.
He said in the province of Punjab, Punjab Rangers
conducted 1,728 intelligence based operations (IBOs), while 2620
check posts were established.
To a question, he ruled out any civilian-military divide in the country, stating that difference of opinion was part of the statecraft
but that should not be labelled as a rift. “Difference of opinion can exist, but that does not mean there is a divide between the two,” he maintained.
Replying to another question, he said that India wanted to label the ongoing freedom movement in Indian Occupied Kashmir as terrorism
adding that the struggle of freedom in Kashmir was internationally-recognized.
To a query regarding Dawn Leaks he said that it was the prerogative of the government to open an inquiry into it or any other matter it
deemed. If the government makes the report public, Pakistan Army
will have no objection to that, he said.
Responding to another query, he said General (R) Pervez Mushrraf
had 40 years of experience in Pakistan Army so if he comments (on security-related issues) as Ex-Army Chief then it is his experience.
But he is also a politician, and his statements on political issues are in his personal capacity, he added.
Regarding social media videos showing national flag being set
on fire, he said no Pakistani could do that.
21 August , 2017
Editor