Pak forces pledge support to govt

By OUR PAKISTAN CORRESPONDENT

Islamabad

Oct. 12: Pakistan’s powerful armed forces and intelligence agencies have pledged to support the democratically elected government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) General Tariq Majeed, on Saturday evening said the armed forces will reinforce the government in its move to strengthen the democratic process.

The country has been run by the military for most of its years after independence in 1947.

"This will help the government in coping with challenges of terrorism and extremism the country is facing," he said while addressing the meeting of the JCSC here.

The meeting was chaired by Gen. Tariq Majeed while secretary defence Kamran Rasool, Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of the Naval Staff Adm. Nauman Bashir, Chief of the Air Staff Tanveer Mahmood Ahmed, director-general joint staff, secretary defence production, director-general Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), director-general strategic plans division and other concerned officials were also present.

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Police collects data on clerics, institutions

Islamabad, Oct. 12: Pakistan police has launched a massive operation to collect fingerprints, photographs and biometric data of people associated with religious institutions, mosques or jihadi organisations.

Spokesman for the interior ministry and director general national crisis management cell brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema (retired) said that the provincial governments were collecting data of all those people, who had ever been affiliated with religious organisations or were still working for jihadi outfits. "This is part of the anti-terror move that the government had started," he said. People having affiliation with religious organisations are being called to the district police offices for taking their photographs and prints of all 10 fingers. The previous government had launched a fingerprints drive‚ as identification project worth Rs 1.1 billion, now being utilised by the police. —ANI