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Gen Kayani offers blank cheque to NWFP police

* COAS says any threat to sovereignty, integrity of country won’t be tolerated
* Army has capability, capacity to fight terrorists

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani said on Wednesday he would give a blank cheque to the NWFP inspector general police for weapons and ammunition required for policing in the province, reported the APP news agency.

The army chief – who made the pledge while addressing NWFP police officers – also paid tribute to policemen for their sacrifices in the war on terror.

Kayani was on a daylong visit to Peshawar – where he met terrorism victims, NWFP Governor Owais Ghani, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti and senior military commanders. He visited Lady Reading Hospital and Combined Military Hospital to personally meet terrorism victims amid tight security.

He said the military “has the capability and the capacity” to fight the war on terror and their sacrifices reflected the level of their morale.

“Any threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the country will not be tolerated,” said Kayani while addressing policemen.

He said the fallout of Operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan – for Peshawar in particular and NWFP in general – was expected, but the people of the provincial capital had faced the situation with courage. “The nation will emerge triumphant in the ongoing war on terror,” he said, adding that despite meagre resources, the services of police were highly commendable.

The protection and solidarity of the country was the main objectives of the army, he said, and vowed that any threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the country would not be tolerated.

“Terrorist attacks and bomb blasts were expected as a reaction to the ongoing successful operation in South Waziristan,” he said. According to APP, Kiyani said the military operation in South Waziristan was not against any tribe of FATA, but was totally aimed at eliminating “anti-state elements who are playing with the lives of innocent people “.

The army chief vowed that peace would be restored to the country “at any cost.” He said the Pakistan Army would continue cooperating with NWFP police.

Kayani also announced Rs 20 million for the ‘Frontier Police Shuhada Fund’.

Provincial police chief Malik Neveed Khan said NWFP police had made great sacrifices in the war on terror, and cited the deaths of 192 officials in the line of duty over the last two years as an example. He said NWFP policemen were working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Pakistan Army.

Naveed said the police had seized 60,000 kilogrammes of explosives, 32 suicide jackets and 708 mortar shells so far.

Separately, the NWFP governor, the chief minister and the army chief discussed matters related to the law and order situation in FATA following the launch of the military operation in South Waziristan.

The governor and the chief minister praised the achievements of the army, and paid tribute to officers and soldiers who have sacrificed their life in the struggle to restore peace.

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