Meeting of Anti-Terrorism Action Plan Committee underway

ISLAMABAD: The first meeting of the Anti-Terrorism National Action Plan Committee (ATNAPC) formed to formulate an anti-terrorism action plan is underway. The meeting is being held in the Committee Room of Parliament House.

The committee, headed by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and comprising members of political parties, armed forces and intelligence agencies, was formed during the All Parties Conference (APC) on Wednesday that was chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

The committee is tasked with formulating a plan in seven days to tackle terrorism, which will be presented before the nation. The political parties have nominated their representatives for the parliamentary committee.

The committee includes Senator Rehman Malik and Qamar Zaman Kaira of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Dr Shireen Mazari of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Dr Farooq Sattar and Senator Babar Ghauri of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Afrasiyab Khattak of the Awami National Party (ANP), Ijazul Haq of the PML-Z, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed of the Awami Muslim League, Shaibzada Tariqullah and Dr Farid Paracha of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Akram Durrani of the JUI-F.

The meeting is also being attended by prime ministers special advisers Khawaja Zaheer, Barrister Zafarullah along with Interior Secretary Shahid Khan and NACTA Coordinator Hamid Ali Khan.

After chalking out the national action plan to tackle the menace of terrorism, the committee will submit its report to Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

According to sources, the prime minister after taking the political parties into confidence will present the national action plan to counter the menace of terrorism before the nation and implement it.