Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz has warned that expeditious crackdown against the militants in the country could lead to a ‘blowback’ in form of increased terrorist attacks.
Aziz suggested that seeking a large-scale crackdown on all the terrorist attacks at once would overstretch the armed forces and lead to more terrorist attacks.
“We have to make sure that we move in a decisive way, but at a measured pace and according to our capacity, and ensuring that the blowback is manageable,” he said.
Aziz on Friday tried to defend the Pakistan Government against the criticism it has drawn for inaction to crack down on the Haqqani network and allegations of sheltering Afghan Taliban leaders.
He also went on to say that he would defend Pakistan’s record of fighting militants when meeting with a U.S. congressional delegation headed by Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, this weekend, the Dawn reported.
“I think what we have achieved in these three years is quite remarkable,” he said citing the ongoing military operation to destroy militant hideouts in North Waziristan near the Afghan border.
Critics, particularly in the US Congress have alleged that Pakistan did not target militants- Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network- that limit their attacks to Afghanistan.
Also, the military operations in North Waziristan targeted loosely allied fighters, including the Pakistani branch of the Taliban – which fights to overthrow Pakistan’s government. (ANI)