Civil-military understanding improved security situation: Nisar

He said that the army operation was launched by the consensus of all political parties, although some like the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has expressed their reservations.

However, no operation can succeed until the people of the country are not united. He admitted that the army had a played a massive and crucial role in the war against terrorism.

He reminded how the country was plagued with terrorism but the situation was much better now. In 2008-2009 the country witnessed more than two thousand acts of terrorism each year, and even Islamabad was not safe from them. Even the first eight months of their government saw 181 attacks of terror.

He said that Quetta attack was a heinous attack, and condemned some of the comments made yesterday in the parliament which criticised the efforts of the government. “I wish those raise their voices against the government would also point fingers at RAW,” he said.

He was referring to the comments by Mahmood Khan Achakzai who called the Quetta attack an intelligence failure and said that merely blaming the Indian intelligence agency RAW was not enough. Achakzai has received criticism for saying that the enemies of the state were from within, and the government cannot absolve itself by blaming others for it.

He hinted that they have received some evidences from the Quetta attack. He said that intelligence sharing had improved in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has improved and the reservations of intelligence agencies will be soon removed.

He reiterated on the need to defeat internal and external forces of terrorism, and those who play this blood game cannot weaken the country, and they will defeat them forever.

He said that military courts are not for political opponents but for the terrorists. He said that the next few months were crucial for the country, and they do not want to pass any harsh laws, but it was necessary for those who cannot understand the language of peace.

After his speech, the decorum of the parliament could not be maintained, and the opposition parties walked out of the assembly over the attitude of the interior minister. However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif brought them back to the house.