Military operation imperative to eliminate terror hubs in Pak Punjab: I&B Minister
June 12th, 2010 - 5:03 pm ICT by ANI
Lahore, Jun.12 (ANI): Pakistan Information and Broadcasting minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has also joined the voices supporting a military operation in Punjab, saying that the Punjabi Taliban were not regional but a global menace.
Talking to media persons at the airport here, Kaira admitted that Punjab has become a terror hub which was threatening the sovereignty of the state.
Responding to a question, he said the federal government was forced to launch military operations in various parts of the country only after the provincial governments failed to control the menace.
“No operation in Pakistan is launched with the will of the federal government. Whenever the provincial government fails to control the menace of terrorism only then the federal government intervenes,” The Nation quoted Kaira, as saying.
Demands for a Swat and Malakand type military operation in Punjab have gained momentum, especially after last month’s brazen terror siege of the two Ahmedi mosques in Lahore, in which over 90 people were killed and over 150 sustained injuries.
However, the provincial government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) appears to be hesitant to carry out any offensive against militant groups based in the region.
Even Interior Minister Rehman Malik had stressed that it was important to reign in the Punjab based terror groups, which have acquired dangerous proportion by joining hands with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists of Waziristan, but also backed off from his stance hours after. (ANI)
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Tags: global menace, interior minister, joining hands, kaira, lahore, media persons, militant groups, military operation, military operations, mosques, pakistan muslim league, pakistan muslim league nawaz, pml n, provincial government, provincial governments, punjab, qamar, rehman malik, terror groups, waziristan
