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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Expanded remit of military operations in Punjab, no decision on PSL yet

Punjab Chief Minister, Shabaz Sharif called a team of top military and civil officials on Sunday to review the law and order situation in the province and they resolved to get rid of extremism, sectarianism, militancy and terrorism. The chief minister said, “The government will not allow terrorists and their abettors to succeed.”

They have decided that the recently launched Radd-ul-Fasaad operations would be jump started and the scope of Rangers, police and Counter-Terrorism Department operations would all be expanded to all parts of the province.

read more: Will ‘Raadul-Fasaad’ complete the unfinished agenda of Raheel Sharif in Punjab?

Participants of this committee meeting held included National Security Adviser Lieutenant General (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua, Corps Commander Lahore Lt Gen Sadiq Ali, Punjab Minister for Anti Terrorism Lt Col (r) Ayub Khan, Director General Rangers Punjab Azhar Naveed Hayat and other senior military and civil leadership.

This is the second meeting of the Provincial Apex Committee in the last seven days. The meeting reviewed progress made on ongoing operations by law enforcement agencies against terrorists infrastructure in the province.

 

The committee directed law enforcement agencies to provide failsafe security to all places of worship in the province.

read more: PSL Final: Lahore or Dubai? A Decision hanging on regional dynamics?

It had been thought that a decision would be announced regarding the venue for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final, which was scheduled to be held in Lahore on March 5. However, no official pronouncement has been forthcoming so far. The decision has been sent to the Prime Minister’s office.

There is speculation that the PSL final may not be held in Pakistan, due to security concerns after the recent wave of terror attacks in different parts of the country. Although as a precautionary step all events and activities have been banned in the areas surrounding Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium until March 5.

read more: India’s design for Pakistani cricket is a failure of Pakistani foreign…

The leadership of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) both Chairman Shaharyar Khan and PSL Chairman Najam Sethi have both said they would like to hold the PSL finals in Lahore. However, Chairman Shaharyar Khan, has stated that the final decision in this regard would rest with the government.

Najam Sethi had a few days earlier promised Pakistani cricket fans that if they wanted to keep PSL final in Lahore, it would stay there, even in the absence of foreign players.

“The foreign players have refused to play the final in Lahore after Monday’s blast, but if the citizens of Pakistan want the final of PSL to be held in Lahore despite foreign players not participating in the final, then the final will be held in Lahore,” said Sethi in his statement.