Pak top military brass vows to back govt in fighting militancy

Pakistan's top military commanders have pledged to extend maximum support to the government in tackling militancy with "zero tolerance" and underscored the need for "a comprehensive national response" to the myriad security challenges confronting the country.

Pakistan's top military commanders have pledged to extend maximum support to the government in tackling militancy with "zero tolerance" and underscored the need for "a comprehensive national response" to the myriad security challenges confronting the country.

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A meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee held in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad on Thursday reviewed the situation in the northwestern Malakand division, which includes the restive Swat, Dir and Buner districts.

Over 140 militants have been killed since Pakistani troops launched an operation against the Taliban in Dir and Buner districts near the federal capital recently following intense pressure from the world community, especially the US.

The Committee "expressed its satisfaction over the progress of operations in Lower Dir, Buner and adjoining areas and resolved to extend maximum support to the government in stamping out any spill-over of militancy in these areas with zero tolerance," said a statement issued by the military.

The meeting was chaired by Gen Tariq Majid, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and attended by the three service chiefs, the Defence Secretary and the head of the Strategic Plans Division, which manages the country's nuclear arsenal.

The meeting was given "comprehensive briefings on the external and internal security situation with specific focus on the evolving internal challenges and measures to improve domestic stability," the statement said.

The Committee also discussed the security situation in Balochistan and Karachi, which has witnessed ethnic clashes in the past few days.

The Committee "underscored the need for a comprehensive national response" to the myriad security challenges confronting Pakistan. It also "strongly dismissed the undue alarm being created by certain quarters, especially the Western media," about dangers to Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

The panel expressed "full confidence in the robust custodial controls and multi-layered arrangements put in place to ensure fail-safe security" of the nuclear weapons.

The Committee also evaluated the revised US policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan to make security-related recommendations to the government.