ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – Pakistan plans to launch a new nationwide operation to root out extremist militants, the National Security Committee said on Friday, in a potentially costly move for a country already facing full-blown economic and political crises.
One analyst said the operation would also serve as a pretext for the government to delay provincial elections it had been under pressure to hold in May.
Pakistan is in danger of defaulting on its debt, with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme stalled since November, while a political battle is raging between the government and former prime minister Imran Khan.
The last time it launched an all-out operation against extremist militants was in 2014, and it cost the country billions of dollars and resulted in more than a million people being displaced and hundreds being killed.
“The meeting agreed to launch an all-out comprehensive operation with the entire nation and the government, which will rid the country of the menace of terrorism with renewed vigour and determination,” said the security committee.
Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country of 220 million people, has seen a rise in attacks by extremist militants in the past few months, particularly since negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan militant group broke down in 2022.
This year, the group and its factions have unleashed a wave of attacks, including a suicide bombing at a mosque in the north-western city of Peshawar that killed more than 100 people, mostly policemen.
