NSC reviews security after recent attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan: sources

ISLAMABAD: The top civilian and military brass on Wednesday reviewed security situation of the country following terror attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, sources informed Geo News.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi presided over a meeting of National Security Committee, which was attended by ministers of defence and interior, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) and the three armed services chiefs.

The meeting also had the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistan's national security advisor (NSA) in presence.

Journalists among 26 killed in successive Kabul blasts

The first bomb exploded in the Shashdarak area close to buildings of the NDS intelligence service, followed by one outside the ministry of urban development and housing

The forum pondered over different matters in the backdrop of recent terror attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, sources said.

The situation on eastern and western borders of the country also came under discussion at the meeting, they added.

In Afghanistan, 26 people were killed in two successive blasts in Kabul on Monday, including 10 journalists, who had arrived to report on the first explosion and who were apparently targeted by a suicide bomber in a second attack.

The attack came a week after 60 people were killed as they waited at a voter registration center in the west of Kabul, underlining the continuing insecurity in the capital despite official pledges to tighten defenses.

A string of suicide bombings and targetted killings left over a dozen people, including five policemen, dead in Quetta, Pakistan, over the past few weeks. The deceased also included members of Hazara and Christian communities.

Hazara leaders say sit-ins to disperse, pledge support after COAS visits Quetta

Protesters on Monday had refused to end their sit-in until the army chief visited them

On Tuesday, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Quetta, where he met with leaders of Hazara community, who were protesting against the continued spate of killings.

The Hazara leaders informed the army chief of their reservations, according to Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, the army spokesperson.

The army chief, while observing and analysing the security situation in Quetta, offered condolences and prayers for the deceased.

Gen Bajwa also assured the Hazara community that "those who have targeted them shall suffer twice as much," a press release issued by the army said.