Political mafia' spreading lies about counter-terrorism operation: Pak Army

The Pakistan Army on Monday said that an organised political mafia was spreading misinformation about a planned new counter-terrorism operation, Azm-e-Istehkam', aimed to flush out militants and foster economic growth and stability.

Army spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi talked about various pressing issues, including the launch of the operation.

A massive illegal, political mafia rose to sabotage the operation and the first move of that mafia was to make the operations controversial through false and fake arguments, he said.

Referring to Pakistan's earlier major military operations, Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, which resulted in large-scale displacements, a reporter inquired if similar displacements would occur during the current operation, Azm-e-Istehkam.

This is not a military operation but a comprehensive counter-terrorism initiative aimed at fostering economic growth and stability," he said.

He referred to the .