Pakistan vows to strike militant HQs under new security policy

The Pakistani military will hit the headquarters of terror groups whenever an attack takes place, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said.

Islamabad: In a major policy shift, Pakistan on Wednesday unveiled its first ever counter-terrorism strategy under which every terror attack would be met with a military strike on the headquarters of the militants.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced the National Security Policy in Parliament and said the decision to hit the terrorists` hideouts was consistent with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s statement that violence and dialogue cannot go side by side. He said the government has introduced a "major" change in its policy on terrorism, a day after the Security Policy was approved by the cabinet, ending years of waiting for a comprehensive policy to tackle terrorism and internal security challenges. "We have made a significant shift in our policy. Now we will react to each and every act of terrorism in the country with an attack on the headquarters of the militants along the Afghan border," Khan said. "Whenever an attack takes place in Pakistan, we will hit their headquarters where the decisions are taken to launch such attacks," he said addressing the National Assembly. Khan said the government gave priority to dialogues with those who wanted to talk. But it was forced to suspend its dialogue process with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) following the beheading of 23 Frontier Corps personnel who were in the custody of the banned group since 2010. The military has launched a wave of aerial strikes, using both fighter jets and combat helicopters, in the lawless tribal areas killing at least 100 suspected terrorists since last Monday. The Interior Minister made it clear that stalled dialogue process will be resumed only after the end of terror activities from the other side. Unveiling the key components of the 100-page policy, Khan said a three-pronged approach - secret, strategic and operational - has been adopted to counter terrorism. The minister said National Counter-Terrorism Authority is being made a premier counter terrorism body while a Joint Intelligence Directorate will be set up for effective coordination among intelligence agencies. The TTP has been waging a a bloody insurgency that killed some 40,000 people since 2007.