ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Pakistan Army engaged in the fight against terrorism will stay in tribal areas along the Afghan border till 2019, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence was informed.
In a meeting of the committee presided over by its Chairman Rohail Asghar, it was further informed that more than 3,500 terrorists have been killed in the ongoing military operation dubbed as ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ while over 300 troops have also embraced martyrdom in the volatile tribal region.
It was informed that security forces have taken control of the Shawal mountains in the North Waziristan tribal region.
The Pakistan army continues to remain in the northwestern Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), a region believed to have strong holds of terrorists belonging to various banned outfits, since 2004 when Pakistan formally entered the war on terror.
In June 2014, the Pakistan armed forces launched its full-fledged offensive in the tribal region after the peace talks with insurgent group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was halted following a deadly terror on the International Airport in Karachi.
Last month, the ground operation was also initiated in the Shawal area of North Waziristan which according to military sources, remains to be last strong hold of terrorists.
The military sources said that the operation ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ has entered into the final stage and vowed not to allow the terrorists to fulfill their objectives against Pakistan at any time.
In a press conference in Islamabad on August 24, the Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that all terrorist networks including the Haqqani Network have been dismantled and there is no terror group operating from the Pakistani soil anymore.
