The Pakistan Army’s concerns about rapidly deteriorating law and order across the country have been conveyed to President Asif Ali Zardari by army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who has called for urgent steps to deal with the situation.
Kayani told Zardari about the military’s concerns yesterday shortly after he chaired a meeting of the army’s corps commanders.
During the conference, the army’s top brass reviewed the internal security situation in the wake of a series of devastating terror attacks against Shias in Quetta and Karachi that killed nearly 250 people. Kayani met Zardari to “communicate the disquiet among his commanders about the security situation spiralling out of control”, the Dawn newspaper quoted its sources as saying.
He expressed concern over the “rapidly deteriorating” situation and sought “urgent steps” to deal with the issue.
A brief statement issued by the presidency only said Kayani and Zardari had discussed the security situation but did not give details.
Reports in several Pakistani dailies said the army chief used the meeting to tell Zardari about the concerns of his commanders over the worsening law and order situation in Karachi, the country¿s financial hub.
On Wednesday, Kayani had visited Karachi to assess the situation in the city where sectarianism attacks on the minority Shia sect have added a new dimension to continuing violence that has claimed scores of lives since last year.
Media reports said that during his meeting with Zardari, Kayani discussed the recent attacks on Shias in Quetta and Karachi and an operation against the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which has claimed most of the attacks.
Kayani spoke about the “improper and inefficient” use of civilian law enforcement agencies by the federal and provincial governments in dealing with terrorism, the Dawn quoted sources in the presidency as saying.
–_PTI