Defence Minister Khawaja Asif condemned the tragic suicide explosion inside a mosque in Peshawar, which resulted in at least 100 fatalities and more than 220 injuries, and emphasised the necessity for a national consensus similar to that achieved for operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorism nationwide.
Speaking on the National Assembly’s floor on Tuesday, he claimed that despite another act of terrorism occurring in the nation, the December 2014 tragedy at the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar had not yet been forgotten.
The federal minister claimed that from 2010 to 2017, “a successful war was conducted against terrorism,” adding that the threat of terrorism had been eradicated by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz administration, which was in power at the time.
Asif stated that “a number of APS-like occurrences occurred in KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa],” adding that the terrorism claimed many priceless lives.
In response to questions on the outlawed terrorist groups, the defence minister stated that the lower house of parliament was informed about two years ago that “these people” may be discussed with but that a final decision could not be reached. He was quite critical of the Imran Khan-led administration for engaging in dialogue with groups that were outlawed.
