Army chief reiterates resolve to win war against terrorism

• COAS says youth most expensive asset of Pakistan, no one to be allowed to waste it.
  
• Army chief asks tribes to help state resolve disputes via dialogues.
• "State's responsible to protect nation from social media's adverse effects."

Addressing the National Youth Convention in Islamabad also attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir on Wednesday expressed his firm resolve to win the war against terrorism.

"Pakistan's future is in safe hands," said the army chief while addressing the Islamabad event, adding that a strong bond between the nation, the government and the army guarantees the prosperity of the country.

It is the state's responsibility to protect the nation from the adverse effects of social media, he added. Gen Munir also said that those people who built a narrative of Pakistan's default were found nowhere today.

"One should ask the importance of an independent state from the people of Libya, Syria, Kashmir, and Gaza," he said.

Urging the nation not to lose hope for a good future, the COAS said that they were forbidden to despair as Muslims.

He went on the say that youth is the most important and expensive asset of Pakistan and they would not let anyone waste it at any cost.

Gen Munir reiterated that it Is his firm belief that the country would defeat terrorism. He added that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) people have been standing alongside the Pakistan Army against the menace of terrorism for the last 22 years.

He asked the tribes to help the state in resolving disputes through dialogues.

The army chief's statement came after the federal government launched a new anti-terrorism operation, Azm-e-Istehkam (Resolve for Stability), citing a rise in terrorist attacks across the country.

Regarding the new counterterrorism drive, the military's media wing said last month that it aimed at harnessing the national counter-terrorism efforts in a synchronised manner to dismantle the nexus of terrorism and illegal spectrum in the country for enduring stability and economic prosperity.

The Pakistan Army also categorically rejected criticism against the new anti-terror drive, vowing to combat "digital terrorism" conspirators abetted by foreign cohorts sowing discord through the peddling of fake news and propaganda.

The institution also clarified that the new anti-terror drive would not be a large-scale military operation.