ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The military operation ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ launched in June last year as a part of efforts to weed out terrorism from the country has now entered its final phases, the Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said in a statement.
His statement came as the one year has been completed since the Pakistan military joint offensive began against different militant outfits in the northwestern volatile North Waziristan tribal region on June 14, 2014.
The defence minister said that the military operation has achieved many important successes against terrorism during the last one year.
Also read: 2,763 terrorists, 347 Pakistan army personnel killed in Zarb-e-Azb so far: ISPR
A total of 2,763 terrorists have so far been killed in Zarb-e-Azb, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) which also said that now the operation has moved to last few pockets close to the Pak-Afghan border.
The ISPR said that 837 militant hideouts were destroyed while 253 tons of explosive material were recovered during the one year of operation. It also said that strong holds, communication infrastructure and sanctuaries of the terrorists have largely been cleared.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has congratulated the nation particularly the Pakistan army on completion of one year of Zarb-e-Azb against terrorism.
In a statement in Islamabad, he said that Zarb-e-Azb was the manifestation of the resolve to root-out terrorism from the country.
The prime minister said that the whole nation was thankful to the mothers, sisters and wives who had sacrificed their sons, brothers and spouses respectively to purge the country of terrorism, and also prayed for them.
Sharif said that the nation will remember their sacrifices forever due to which Pakistan was successfully eliminating terrorism and heading towards progress. He said that those who were fighting on this dangerous front were sacrificing their today for better future of the nation and the whole nation expressed solidarity with them.
