Operation Azm-e-Istehkam: Govt decides to convene APC

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to convene the All Parties Conference (APC) on the operation “Azm-e-Istehkam” operation, sources said on Thursday.

Sources disclosed that the schedule for the APC will be finalised after the return of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was attending the SCO Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The sources said that the APC is aimed at developing consensus on the operation “Azm-e-Istehkam”. The federal government wants to take all political parties before launching the operation.

APC is likely to be held in the last week of July, they say.

Earlier in this month, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif ruled out any large-scale military operation under the vision Azm-e-Istehkam, saying that ongoing Intelligence-Based Operations (IBOs) will be intensified.

Speaking at the federal cabinet meeting called on to take the members into confidence about the prevailing ‘misunderstanding and speculations’ about the Azm-e-Istehkam, the prime minister said that instead of any large-scale operation, the already ongoing intelligence-based kinetic operations would be energised.

PM Shehbaz said that the Azm-e-Istehkam is a multi-domain and whole-of-system national vision aimed at decisively rooting out the nebulous and shadowy presence of remnants of terrorists, and violent extremism.