The Pakistani Armed Forces started implementing a new national anti-terrorism strategy, Operation Azm-e-Istehqam (Resolve and Stability). Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of the Ministry of Defence Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated this at a press conference in Rawalpindi.

“Operation Azm-e-Istehqam is being carried out in response to the increase in terrorist attacks on Pakistan from Afghanistan. Their intensity has increased by 88% since the beginning of 2024. The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group, the most active anti-Pakistan terrorist organization in Afghanistan, is responsible for the majority of the victims of terrorist attacks,” the ISPR head emphasized.’

Azm-e-Istehqam is a comprehensive counter-terrorism campaign rather than a conventional military operation. “The strategy is being implemented in accordance with the National Anti-Terrorism Action Plan. Presently law enforcement agencies conduct 122 operations against terrorists and their accomplices in Pakistan every day under Azm-e-Istehqam,” Chaudhry said.

On June 25, the federal government of Pakistan approved the Azm-e-Istehqam. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's Secretariat indicated that the campaign was aimed at ensuring national security and expanding the fight against terrorism both domestically and with regards to the external threat from Afghanistan. The strategy includes political and diplomatic efforts to this extent."