ISLAMABAD: Army chief General Syed Asim Munir met President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday to discuss the military’s ongoing operations against “terrorism,” the president’s office said, amid a surge in militant violence in the South Asian country. 

This was the first meeting between Munir and Zardari after the latter was elected president for a second tenure last month. During their meeting at the Presidency, the army chief congratulated Zardari on his appointment as president, a statement from Zardari’s office said on social media platform X. 

“The COAS apprised the President regarding the ongoing operations of the Army against terrorism and highlighted the operational preparedness against conventional threats,” the statement read. 

Munir informed the president about the army’s contribution to development initiatives, especially in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces wracked by militancy. 

Zardari commended the armed forces for safeguarding Pakistan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Without mentioning the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by former prime minister Imran Khan, which has had a falling out with the military since 2022, Zardari noted the “baseless and unsubstantiated allegations” against the army and its leadership by a certain political party and its members. 

The president vowed to deal with such elements with an “iron hand,” the statement added. 

“The President paid homage to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the nation, emphasizing that their blood will forever symbolize the resilience and strength of the Pakistani nation,” it said.

The meeting between the two takes place in the backdrop of increased targeted killings and suicide bombings in Pakistan, where violence has surged particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces bordering Afghanistan. 

The violence initially picked up after the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off its fragile, monthslong truce with the government in November 2022.

Last month, seven Pakistani soldiers, including two army officers, were killed in a militant attack in the same district, the Pakistani military said.

The attack led the Pakistani military to carry out rare airstrikes against suspected TTP hideouts inside Afghanistan on March 18, killing eight people. The strikes prompted Afghan forces to fire heavy weapons at Pakistani soldiers along the border.