Civil-military huddle resolves to treat terrorist groups with 'iron hand'

• Session convened in National Assembly at 11am.
• Meeting summoned by NA on advice of PM Shehbaz.
• KP CM Gandapur attends huddle sans PTI leadership.
  

ISLAMABAD: The in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday resolved to deal with the terrorist groups, with an “iron hand”.

The high-level national meeting was convened by NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif amid rising incidents of terrorism in the country in general and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in particular.

The meeting was attended by PM Shehbaz, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) Lieutenant General Asim Malik, chief ministers of all four provinces, and other top officials.

However, several key figures including Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, NA Opposition Leader Omar Ayub and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members skipped the the high-level huddle.

According to PM's aide on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah, the military leadership briefed the lawmakers on the security situation.

The high-level huddle comes days after last week's harrowing attack by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants who blew up train tracks and held over 440 passengers hostage in a day-long standoff with security services in a remote mountain pass in the Bolan district.

The military, after clearing the train and rescuing hostages, said it killed 33 attackers. Before the operation began, terrorists had martyred 26 passengers, while four security personnel were martyred during the operation.

The martyred train passengers included 18 security personnel from the army and the FC, three officials from Pakistan Railways and other departments and five civilians.

The closed-door meeting is also to be taken in the context of alarming statistics revealed in the Global Terrorism Index 2025 report which places Pakistan as the second-most affected country by terrorism.

The country, — placed at the second spot from its previously fourth position — witnessed an alarming 45% increase in terrorism-related deaths with the total rising from 748 in 2023 to 1,081 in 2024 — one of the steepest surges globally.

The number of terror attacks more than doubled from 517 in 2023 to 1,099 in 2024, which also marked the first year that attacks exceeded the 1,000 mark since the inception of the Index.

Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain the most heavily affected provinces — which also share a border with neighbouring Afghanistan — accounted for over 96% of terrorist attacks and deaths in Pakistan in 2024.

Speaking during the meeting, PM Shehbaz noted that terrorism had become a scourge for the country and reiterated the resolve to get rid of this menace.

Noring that they could not forget the sacrifices of the martyrs, the premier paid tribute to those who had laid down their lives for the country.

Meanwhile, NA Speaker Sadiq censured the opposition for its disappointing decision to not attend the in-camera meeting.

"The opposition leader and his party should have participated in the meeting of utmost importance," the speaker said while terming the opposition's behaviour contrary to the parliamentary decisions.

Political divide persists

The all-important meeting is taking place against the backdrop of prevailing political polarisation as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced that it will skip the in-camera session.

The party had demanded the government arrange a meeting between its leaders and the PTI founder, Imran Khan, who is imprisoned at Rawalpindi's Adiala jail.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said that the party has decided not to attend the meeting.

He told the media that the decision was made during a political committee meeting the previous day. 

Raja confirmed that no PTI representative would participate, except for KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who is in fact attending the huddle in his capacity as the province's representative.

PTI's decision against attending the session comes a day after multi-party opposition alliance, Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), led by Mahmood Khan Achakzai announced their decision to boycott the session.

Additionally, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Chairman Allama Raja Nasir Abbas announced that their parties would not attend the meeting either. 

Meanwhile, speaking to the media, TTAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai said that Pakistan is going through an extremely dangerous phase.

Claiming that the most alarming issue was that a winning party had been made to lose in the elections, Achakzai expressed regret that those responsible for electoral fraud were the very individuals who had taken an oath to uphold the Constitution.

The politician further demanded a joint session of Parliament with a two-day meeting, where all parliamentary members should be briefed. He criticised restrictions preventing party leaders from meeting the PTI founder.

He warned that prison authorities would be held accountable, asserting that they should either declare the PTI founder a dangerous individual barred from meetings or allow access.

Achakzai further questioned how his party could accept an invitation from what he termed an "unconstitutional prime minister." 

He stressed that any meeting on national security should include representatives from all political parties, including the PTI founder, without whom such discussions would hold no significance.

He also emphasised that Jamaat-e-Islami representatives should be part of national security meetings.

Meanwhile, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza said that his party had initially demanded an in-camera session.

The names of representatives were submitted the previous day with certain conditions. However, the political committee meeting later decided against attending, Raza clarified.

The SIC head further described the PTI founder as a major leader, asserting that progress could not be made without taking him into confidence, as public support would not be secured otherwise and expressed the view that negotiations should be prioritised over military operations.