ISPR chief dubs TTP ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’

RAWALPINDI: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif on Monday held a press briefing to provide details on Pakistan’s security operations, including counter-terrorism offensive.

Talking to reporters in Rawalpindi, the military’s spokesperson provided details of the operations conducted by security forces during the going year.

“The security forces and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) conducted 23,622 small and large-scale intelligence-based operations in the country,” the DG ISPR said. He added that security forces carried as many as 2,045 operations during the last 15 days.

Lt Gen Sharif said the operations during the last 15 days resulted in the deaths of “24 terrorists.”

He further noted that security forces, including police and other law enforcement agencies, conducted 100 operations on a daily basis to combat terrorirsm.

New term for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan

The ISPR chief introduced a new name for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during the press conference, saying the government had notified the banned group as as “Fitna al-Khawarij.”

“From now on, we will use the term Fitna al-Khawarij to refer to the TTP, while all terrorists associated with the group would be termed Kharji (outcasts)”, he said.

The reason behind giving TTP the term, he added, was that the group spread mischief and it had no ideology nor it had anything to do with Islam and Pakistan.