Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif calls meeting of top officials to review NAP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has summoned a high-level meeting of top officials and government ministers tomorrow to review the progress on a counter-terrorism action plan.

The meeting of the National Action Plan (NAP) will be attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, DG Inter-Services Intelligence General Rizwan Akhtar and other top officials.

The NAP, aimed at chalking out a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism, was drafted following a brutal Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar on December 16 that killed 150 people, mostly children.

A parliamentary committee has also been formed to evaluate the post Peshawar tragedy scenario and discuss necessary laws and amendments to curb militancy.

Sharif has also ordered to activate the National Counter-terrorism Authority (Nacta).

The authority will kick off its operation against armed militias, proscribed organisations, terror on the Internet and insurgency in Balochistan next week.

First draft of the constitutional and legal amendments that would be introduced to try enemy combatants and hardcore terrorists has been presented to the prime minister.

Sharif has said that the government would give legal protection to the soldiers of the armed forces in their fight against terrorism.

He has also asked his legal team to share the draft with other political parties and get their input. He has directed officials to include terrorism or sectarian violence against minorities in the schedule of offences.