Abdullah Gul (Defense Analyst): First of all, I would like to pay tribute to martyrs who laid down their lives to protect the motherland. Pakistan Army is fully committed and determined to root out the menace of terrorism. Thousands of armed forces personnel as well as civilians sacrificed their lives in war against terrorism. Apart from that, the country suffered massively in terms of damages to infrastructure. The Western alliance that spent almost two decades in Afghanistan to root out terrorism could not succeed in its mission. On the other hand, Pakistan successfully eradicated terrorism and foiled the attacks of terrorists. Almost all the terrorists have nexus with hostile foreign powers. They want to destabilize Pakistan so that it could not make progress. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the capability of CTD and police was not increased over the years. In recent Bannu attack, police and other civilian law enforcing agencies could not repulse the attack. The operation against terrorists became successful only when the armed forces intervened. The statement of Army Chief is very crucial at this moment in which he vowed to defeat terrorism.

Brig. (Retd.) Harris Nawaz (Defense Analyst): After the hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the terrorists got hold of the weapons and ammunition left. Secondly, Afghan government is not organized and does not enjoy control over whole of Afghanistan. This has provided a vacuum to terrorists to launch their attacks on neighboring countries. Pakistan Army had successfully eradicated the menace of terrorism. The upsurge in terrorism can be traced to many factors. NACTA needs to be activated and National Action Plan be implemented in full spirit. Afghan government should be clearly conveyed that they should not allow their soil to be used against Pakistan. The Ulemas should also be involved to play their role. A full throttle operation needs to be launched against these terrorists and pressure should be made on Afghan government to play their role.