Army Chief General Asim Munir has blamed governance failures for the recent surge in terrorism and called for a shift towards a “hard state” to effectively counter the threat. 

His comments came during a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, where he emphasized the need for a holistic approach that extends beyond military operations.

The meeting was held in the Parliament House on Tuesday on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and was attended by major political leaders including Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. All four chief ministers and police chiefs also attended the meeting. However, multiple opposition political parties including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf refused to attend.

A communique issued after the meeting called for a national consensus to fight terrorism with ‘full force of the state’.

General Munir addressed the persistent issue of civilian government shortcomings in fully implementing counterterrorism frameworks like the National Action Plan (NAP) and Operation Azm-e-Istehkam.

He questioned the continued reliance on the Pakistan Army’s sacrifices and the loss of countless lives under the current “soft state” model.

“How long will we continue to fill governance gaps with the sacrifices of the Pakistan Army and the blood of martyrs?” he asked.

The communique expressed concern over the growing misuse of social media by terrorist networks and called for a comprehensive framework to counter this digital threat.

The meeting followed a recent spike in terrorist incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, further highlighted by last week’s hijacking of the Jaffar Express. Both Prime Minister Sharif and General Munir stressed the critical need for decisive action.

However, the communique did not mention sanctuaries enjoyed by Taliban in Afghanistan as officials have stated repeatedly in recent weeks.