ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday there had been a rise in terrorist violence in Pakistan during the last four years since the role of provinces in implementing a comprehensive 20-point plan to counter extremism had been ignored and needed to be restored.
The prime minister made the observation while presiding over a meeting in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to review the security situation in different parts of the country.
He mentioned the National Action Plan (NAP) during the conversation which was devised to address violent extremism after a group of militants massacred over a hundred school children in Peshawar in December 2014.
“This role of the provinces will be restored that remained missing during the last four years,” Dawn newspaper quoted him as saying.
The newspaper mentioned a security official who said the provinces were required “to make legal, judicial, police and madressah reforms, ban hate literature, [ensure] de-weaponization and impart special training to the civil security agencies” under the plan.
The prime minister said peace was vital for development and economic stability of the country.
Pakistan has in recent years witnessed major attacks against Chinese nationals working on energy and infrastructure development projects jointly launched by the two countries.
There have also been other incidents of militant violence, especially along the country’s western border in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Our struggle will go on until the elimination of terrorism,” the Associated Press of Pakistan quoted the prime minister. “The government will never compromise Pakistan’s security and defense.”
