Forces of evil will continue to face full might of state: Gen Asim Munir

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir said Saturday the forces of evil would continue to face the full might of the state after a suicide blast in Balochistan’s Mastung district killed 59 people.

A suicide bomber Friday targeted people gearing up for a procession related to Eid Miladun Nabi — the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) — near a mosque in the Mastung district.

“Such incidents of terrorism on 12 Rabi al-Awwal depict the ill intent of the khawarij, who have the backing of state sponsors of terrorism,” the army chief said, according to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The ISPR mentioned that the army chief visited Quetta, where he was briefed on recent terrorist attacks in Mastung and Zhob.

“These terrorists and their facilitators, having no link with religion and ideology, are proxies of the enemies of Pakistan and its people. These forces of evil will continue to face full might of the state and security forces backed by a resilient nation,” COAS Munir said.

The army chief said the Pakistani people have rejected terrorists’ “pseudo ideology and propaganda of their backers and they are fully committed to peace, economic progress, and human development, which indeed is causing [a] lot of distress to forces of evil in and outside of Pakistan”.

The briefing was also attended by interim Minister of Interior Sarfraz Bugti, caretaker Chief Minister Balochistan Ali Mardan Khan Domki, and key provincial ministers along with senior civil and military officials.

Following the briefing, the COAS visited Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Quetta, where he met the injured and families of the Mastung incident, “who are being provided full medical care by Pakistan Army”, the ISPR said.

Read more: Six terrorists involved in Bannu suicide attack killed: ISPR

He also lauded the bravery and resilience of Balochistan police and law enforcement personnel.

He assured full cooperation and support to the families of martyred people and assured them that terrorists, their abettors, and facilitators would not be spared.

The death toll from the suicide blast in Mastung rose to 59, a spokesperson of the Civil Hospital Quetta said Saturday, as seven more succumbed to their injuries.

Hours after the blast in Balochistan, a second attack took place at a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu city and claimed the lives of five people — including a policeman — and injured 12.

The incident took place within the parametres of Police Station Doaba during the Friday sermon — a time when scores of believers are gathered at a mosque for their weekly prayer.

Bugti said earlier today that the Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), is involved in carrying out terror incidents in Pakistan.

The minister, in a press conference in Quetta, said that the authorities knew who was involved in these activities and would avenge every drop of blood of Pakistanis.

“We know who is doing it and from where,” Bugti maintained, vowing to utilise all state resources against militants.