KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistan’s powerful army on Monday accused a “massive illegal political mafia” of trying to sabotage renewed military operation against militants in the country - a thinly-veiled reference to the opponents of the campaign.
Military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif lashed out at opposition parties which opposed Azm-e-Istehkam, or determination for durability, operation announced by the coalition government last month to escalate the ongoing anti-militancy efforts in the face of a fresh flare up of suspected militant attacks in the South Asian nation.
Except for the ruling coalition, including, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), all key opposition parties, particularly Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed for former Prime Minister Imran Khan, mainstream religiopolitical parties including Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema Islam, nationalist Awami National Party, and several other regional parties have opposed the operation.
“This is a comprehensive counter-terrorism campaign” launched through national consensus,” Sharif said, while responding to a series of questions during a news conference in northeastern garrison city of Rawalpindi. "It is not just a military operation as it was being portrayed."
“Efforts are being made to make operation Azm-e-Istehkam controversial. But we will not allow to make Pakistan a soft state,” he added.
This year, he added, the forces have launched over 22,000 security operations across the country, killing nearly 400 suspected militants, including 31 “high-value targets.”
Reacting to the army spokesman's remarks, the PTI, which opposes any new operation in the country, said its supporters are "more patriotic than any other."
“No one is patriotic than the PTI and Imran Khan. We are the most patriotic people to the country," opposition leader in the parliament Omer Ayub Khan said at a news conference in Islamabad along with party Chairman Gohar Khan.
“We don't recognize any authority in the country that gives patriotism certificates," he went on to say.
He also questioned "unchecked" smuggling into the country through Afghanistan and Iran’s borders, demanding an immediate action against those involved.
Since 2014, the army has launched several military operations, mainly in the northwestern tribal region, which pushed the mother organization of Pakistani militants, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or the TTP, toward neighboring Afghanistan.
The South Asian country, however, has seen an uptick in suspected militant attacks since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in Aug. 2021.
Islamabad accuses “Afghanistan-based” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its affiliates of carrying out militants attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul, however, denies the allegation that attacks are being carried from its soil.