Economic security biggest challenge Pakistan is facing: Army

Pakistan Army has called for a solution to Kashmir per the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, saying regional peace will remain elusive without this issue’s resolution, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

This was said by Director General pf Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry while addressing a news conference at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Monday.

The military’s spokesperson provided details of the operations the Pakistani security forces were currently engaged in, adding 23,622 small and large-scale operations took place this year. He revealed that so far, 23,622 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) have been conducted in the ongoing year, of which 2,045 operations were conducted in the last 15 days which resulted in the elimination of 24 terrorists.

The ISPR director general also said that over 100 IBOs were conducted by the Army and the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) daily.

Recollecting last week's government notification which declared the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as "Fitna al-Khawarij", the military spokesman said that the militant organisation had nothing to do with Islam.

He said that the government recently notified the group as “Fitna al-Khawarij” and from now on they will use the term Fitna al-Khawarij to refer to the TTP, while all terrorists associated with the group would be called and written as Kharjis.

He stressed: "The armed forces are especially focused on the merged districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," the ISPR chief said, adding the war against terrorism will continue till the last militant is eliminated.

"The Army, in collaboration with the federal and provincial governments, completes various projects. The Army is working under the government mandate to ensure food security, with over 66,000 military personnel providing security for the polio eradication campaign.

Education, healthcare, and clean water remain priorities."

The Army Chief has initiated employment projects in Gwadar, with 104 different projects currently in progress. 

"Over 5,000 students from Balochistan have benefited from the technical education and assistance provided by these initiatives.

"About 92 schools are being run in Balochistan for better education and 19,000 are getting education from there.

"Moreover, the army has also established 171 schools and three cadet colleges in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

"Pakistan Army set up medical camps in various districts where free treatment was provided," he said, adding local and foreign companies are working on many projects in the merged districts."

Responding to a question, the military spokesman maintained that economic security is the biggest challenge of Pakistan.

Lt-Gen Chaudhry said that not enough was being done against digital terrorism under the law, allowing fake news and propaganda to spread in the country.

He added: "The first line of defence against digital terrorism is the country’s law. It has to control and curb digital terrorism but unfortunately, you can see that lies, propaganda – particularly on social media – fake news and doctored images continue to spread, while confusion is created in the public’s mind.

“But the law is not taking its course against digital terrorism as it should.

"The Army is taking the matter very seriously. That's why, whoever – whether in Pakistan or abroad and irrespective of their position – is found spreading propaganda against the Army, creating a distance between the army and the people, or is found to be involved in spreading fake news, it will take necessary legal action against it, and there is a whole process for it.”