Pak’s NA Speaker Summons Closed-Door Session, Military Leadership To Brief Lawmakers On Security Situation

Islamabad, Mar 17: Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has convened an in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday, amid a surge in the deadly terror attacks in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked the National Assembly speaker to convene the security meeting at Parliament House on Tuesday at 1:30 pm, Dawn reported on Monday.
The military leadership will provide a comprehensive briefing to the parliamentary committee on the prevailing security situation, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The development comes in the wake of a series of deadly terror attacks in the two provinces, which share a border with neighbouring Afghanistan.
Citing a source in the National Assembly, Dawn reported that since no parliamentary committee on security was formed, therefore, members of the Standing Committees on Defence and Foreign Affairs from the National Assembly, federal cabinet members, chief ministers of the four provinces and leaders of all parliamentary parties or their representatives will attend the closed-door session.
Prime Minister Sharif and Army Chief Gen Asim Munir will join the briefing.
Meanwhile, the government is said to be planning a massive operation against the BLA and other terror groups, involved in growing terror attacks in the province, the paper reported.
One of the Prime Minister’s aides, Rana Ahsan Afzal, said the government will soon convene a Multi-Party Conference (MPC) to discuss the security situation.
He also revealed plans to carry out a massive operation against terrorists in Balochistan but did not offer any details.
On Sunday, five people, including three security personnel, were killed and 30 others injured when a paramilitary convoy was attacked by suspected Baloch militants in Noshki district of Balochistan.
The attack was claimed by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
Earlier last week, the BLA militants ambushed a train carrying 440 passengers in the same province and killed 21 passengers and four paramilitary soldiers. The army eliminated all 33 terrorists and rescued passengers.
On Sunday, three security personnel were killed in five separate terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces accounted for over 96 per cent of terrorist attacks and deaths in Pakistan in 2024. (Agencies)