Pakistan PM Shehbaz, Army chief Munir discuss security issues in country

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir held a meeting to discuss the key security issues in the country, including a recent protest by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party in Islamabad in which several people were killed.

The government did not officially share the details of the huddle held on Monday, but Dawn reported quoting a source privy to the meeting that they discussed the November 24 D-Chowk protest and vowed to spare nobody involved in violence and the killing of law enforcers.

It was decided that no leniency will be shown for those who killed security personnel and destroyed state property, the source said.

The meeting, attended by top security officials, also discussed a surge in terrorism, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.

The huddle also took stock of a renewed threat by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur about another protest march to Islamabad if the government did not release PTI founder Khan from jail.

The source said the meeting also remembered the Army Public School tragedy on the occasion of its 10th anniversary on Monday.

Security officials also gave a detailed briefing on internal and external security matters, according to Dawn.

Pakistan has been facing a renewed terrorist threat for which it blames the Afghan Taliban government because the spike in terrorists came after they took control of the country in 2021.

The issue of terrorism along with the repeated protests by the PTI was the major threat to the government in 2024.

Khan's party launched the protest on November 24 to give a sit-in at D-Chowk in Islamabad's Red Zone, where most government buildings are located. His supporters were forcibly dispersed on the night of November 26 when they reached close to D-Chowk.

In the sit-in protest, four persons were killed and over 50 were injured. However, PTI claimed hundreds were killed in the violent clashes with security personnel.