Govt reviewing National Action Plan to counter terrorism: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday asserted that the government would soon revive the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and was reviewing the National Action Plan to counter-terrorism in Pakistan.

Speaking on the National Assembly floor, the federal minister pointed out that terrorism was once again on the rise in the country. “In the last four years, not a single meeting of NACTA, which is chaired by the prime minister, was held,” she added.  

Marriyum Aurangzeb has claimed that the incidents of terrorism were resurfacing in the country due to negligence exhibited by the PTI government in implementation of the National Action Plan during its four-year tenure.

The minister said the PML-N government, under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in its last tenure had given the country first-ever National Security Policy, besides finalizing the NAP in collaboration with all stakeholders including provinces, following the Army Public School tragedy.

According to that plan, for the first time, all the provinces, law enforcement agencies, the people of Pakistan and federal units had decided to come together and fight terrorism, the minister stated.

“However, for four years, the plan was completely ignored because of the ego of one person (Imran Khan),” she claimed, adding: “Whether it was water, polio or terrorism, that man wasn’t ready to talk to anyone. He never found it necessary.”

She further said that this was the reason why the provinces and the Centre were “detached” for the last few years. “The entire mechanism of coordination between the provinces and the Centre has been outlined in NAP,” she said, adding that this was why a decline in terrorist activities was seen during 2015 and 2018.

Moving on, the minister stated that the first meeting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired after assuming power was on terrorism. “We are now, once again, reviewing the National Action Plan. Meanwhile, the interior ministry has completed the infrastructure of Nacta and a meeting will be called next week,” Aurangzeb added.

Marriyum’s comments come as the country has been hit by a spate of terror attacks. Three bomb blasts have been reported in Karachi in as many weeks.

On April 26, a suicide attack outside the University of Karachi’s (KU) Confucius Institute killed four people, including these Chinese teachers.

The second attack in the city took place in the Saddar area on May 12. One passerby was killed and at least nine injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) planted in a motorbike went off.

The third explosion took place earlier this week on Monday when an IED blasted near the Iqbal Market and New Memon Mosque in Karachi’s Kharadar area claiming one life and leaving 11 injured.

On Sunday, two Sikh traders were gunned down on the outskirts of Peshawar. On Thursday, a soldier was martyred in an attack on a convoy of security forces in South Waziristan tribal district.