ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir praised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police for playing a critical role in fighting extremist violence on Friday while visiting the site of a deadly suicide blast in Peshawar where over a hundred people were killed during a prayer congregation.
The incident took place when an explosion ripped through a crowded mosque in Peshawar’s police headquarters on Monday after a suicide bomber managed to enter the facility in police uniform.
According to a statement released by the military’s media wing, ISPR, the army chief met with police personnel and praised their bravery in the “war against terrorism.”
“The [chief of army staff] said that KP police is one of the most brave and has fought as a Frontline force against terrorism,” the statement added.
He appreciated the morale of police personnel and paid tribute to the martyrs who “laid down their lives for the defence of motherland.”
“We as a nation together will root out this menace of terrorism till enduring peace and InSha Allah we shall achieve this,” General Munir was quoted as saying.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting to review the security situation of the country which agreed to adopt “a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism.”
“Those who attacked innocent citizens will be brought to justice,” he said in a Twitter post. “We will not allow anti-terror gains to be reversed.”
The prime minister said the participants of the meeting also considered proposals to revise the National Action Plan, announced in December 2014 to crack down on militant networks, and approved “a slew of measures to improve investigation, forensic & working of [counterterrorism departments].”
“The meeting agreed to institute implementation mechanism for the decisions,” he added.