Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today expressed his government’s resolve to rid Pakistan of terrorism and make the country a safe place for people of all religions and ethnicities, hours after two Hazara Shia Muslims were shot dead by Taliban militants.
“We will make Pakistan secure for every ethnicity and religion,” Sharif said while chairing a meeting on internal security and the National Action Plan (NAP).
He said the country is on the right track and the government will enable citizens to reap the benefits of a secure, stable and prosperous Pakistan.
Minorities in Pakistan have faced numerous casualties for more than a decade following the rise of extremism and terrorism in the country.
The premier’s statement comes just hours after two members of the Hazara minority community were gunned down by unidentified assailants in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, in an apparent sectarian attack.
Sharif termed “extremist ideology” a global threat and said that Pakistan as a frontline state in the war on terror had “confronted the blowback of terrorists for several years”.
Pakistan had suffered socially and economically since it began to fight extremism and terrorism, Dawn quoted Sharif as saying.
“No other country has suffered to this extent,” he said.
The premier said he believed NAP and Operation Zarb-i-Azb military operation have played a major role in cutting down the frequency of terror activities in the country.
“The gains in the National Action Plan and Operation Zarb-i-Azb, and progress achieved so far will be consolidated through well-coordinated and concerted efforts at the federal and provincial levels with the backing of the national resolve,” Sharif said.
PTI