ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Punjab province has launched the country’s “first mobile Counterterrorism Department” to monitor complex security operation in real time, the provincial chief minister said on Wednesday, amid a surge in militancy in the country.
Pakistan is currently facing an uptick in militant attacks, mainly by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which borders Punjab.
The attacks in KP have forced authorities in Punjab to heighten security and take pre-emptive measures in view of potential spillover of militants into the country’s most populous province.
In a post on X, Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif shared visuals of the mobile counterterrorism unit that can accommodate over half a dozen officials and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
“This van will function as a fully equipped counterterrorism office on the go, enabling real-time monitoring of security operations in challenging and unusual situations,” Sharif said.
“Punjab continues to lead the way and set new benchmarks in technology and innovation.”
The development comes after Punjab authorities announced in Sept. arrest of nearly 90 suspected militants in a 90-day counter-terrorism sweep.
“Among the arrested militants were 55 linked to Fitna Al-Khawarij [Pakistani Taliban], five to Daesh, two to Al-Qaeda, two to Hizb ul-Tahrir and two to Jiye Sindh,” the Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said in a statement.
“In the last three months, 13,521 combing operations were carried out during which 1,131 suspects were arrested.”
Pakistan has struggled to contain the surging in militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad broke down in Nov. 2022. The country faces another decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatists in its southwestern Balochistan province.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.
