PESHAWAR: The crucial meeting of Apex committee got underway here on Friday with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.
The meeting takes place at Governor House, and comes after Monday’s bombing in Peshawar mosque, in which some 101 people lost their lives and more than 200 injured.
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PM Shehbaz Sharif announced compensation money of Rs two million for the dead and Rs 0.5 million for the injured, on behalf of the federal government.
In his opening remarks, PM Shehbaz Sharif offered condolence over loss of precious lives and said entire nation was mourning the tragedy. He condemned the ‘campaign of criticism and conspiracy theories’ involving allegations like drone strike in Peshawar, and said entire nation needed to remain united at this critical time. He emphasized the need to avoid ‘criticism for the sake of criticism’ during present times.
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He said the attacker passed check post to reach Civil Lines Mosque, and urged to investigate as to where the security lapse took place. He urged upon religious leaders as well as security institutions to unite against the menace of terrorism.
On this occasion, PM Shehbaz Sharif questioned how the provincial government spent funds to the tune Rs417 billion it received from the Centre since 2010? He said if only half of Rs. 417 billion had been spent on KP’s security, people would have been sleeping and enjoying quiet times today.
He said “we had formed CTD [in Punjab] in Rs2.5bn and similar forces should have been formed here. We built Safe City in Rs14bn. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had Rs417bn, they should have built safe city centres and satellite forensic labs. Nobody would have questioned them.”
Earlier, the PM expressed deep grief and sorrow over the death of seventeen people in an accident near Kohat Tunnel.
In his condolence message, he prayed for those who lost their lives in the incident and also prayed for fortitude to the bereaved families to bear this loss.
The Prime Minister also prayed for early recovery of the injured. He urged the authorities concerned to take necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
The meeting is being attended by all service chiefs including Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, as well as forces top brass including ISI Chief Lt-General Nadeem Anjum, Chairman joint chiefs of staff committee and Navy and Air Force chiefs, and head of other security and intelligence agencies.
Federal Ministers, Chief Ministers of all four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan, AJK Prime Minister and senior officers of police sensitive institutions are also present in the meeting.
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It has been learnt that the meeting is also expected to take decisions to set up targeted operations to end the menace of terrorism.
Moreover, an updated list of elements involved in terrorism – their facilitators and hideouts – will also be presented in the apex committee meeting at Governor House.
