In the wake of the US war on terror, Pakistan has borne the brunt of terrorists attacks that have killed more than 70,000 people including women and children. Not only has Pakistan suffered in terms of losing precious lives, it has also sustained economic losses in its fight against terrorism that has risen to $126 billion in 2017-18, which is more than what the country has suffered in its wars with India. No other country, not even the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, can claim to have suffered such tremendous loss, both in terms of lives and money.
Following the vicious terrorist attack on the Army Public School in December 2014 which resulted in the death of 149 people including 132 school children, Pakistan clamped down hard on the terrorist networks in the country through sustained counterterrorism operations, as part of the National Action Plan (NAP). These military operations, significantly, Operation Rah-e-Rast and Operation Zarb-e-Azb have substantially improved the overall security situation in the country. Continuous intelligence based operations and the stringent measures introduced under NAP including the establishment of military courts, the re-institution of the death penalty, new cybercrime laws, the renewal of the Afghan Refugee Registration, the revival of the Pakistan Automated Fingerprint Identification System (PAFIS), and the establishment of the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) to check cross border infiltration of terrorists have today significantly eradicated terrorists, their networks and safe havens in the country.
