Overview

• "Azm-e-Istehkam" (Resolve for Stability) — comprehensive national counter-terrorism campaign approved by Pakistan's Apex Committee (National Action Plan forum) in June 2024
• Announced amid resurgence of TTP-linked and ISKP terrorism, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, following the post-Afghan Taliban takeover (Aug 2021) spike in cross-border militancy

Key Features

• Distinguished from past kinetic-only operations (Zarb-e-Azb 2014, Radd-ul-Fasaad 2017) — framed as a comprehensive, whole-of-nation approach, not purely military
• Combines: renewed military/intelligence-based operations (IBOs) against militant networks, socio-economic development in affected areas, political reconciliation, and diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan on cross-border militancy
• Explicitly links internal security to economic revival — terrorism deters investment (esp. CPEC-related)

Controversy & Political Reaction

• Initial announcement caused public/political confusion — mistakenly perceived by some as a full-scale military operation causing displacement (like Swat 2009); government later clarified it's intelligence-based, not mass displacement-causing
• KP provincial government (PTI-led at the time) raised objections over lack of consultation — became a federal-provincial friction point
• Some analysts view it as rebranding of existing NAP/counter-terror efforts rather than a genuinely new strategy

Context: Rising Threat

• TTP attacks increased sharply post-2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan — Pakistan accuses Afghan Taliban of sheltering TTP, denied by Kabul
• Pakistan has conducted cross-border airstrikes into Afghan territory targeting TTP hideouts, straining Pak-Afghan relations

Exam Angle

High-yield current affairs topic — link to (1) Pakistan-Afghanistan relations deterioration, (2) NAP's implementation gaps, (3) civil-military and federal-provincial coordination challenges in counter-terrorism policy. Expect a current-affairs MCQ or short question on the launch year (2024) and its distinguishing feature (non-kinetic/comprehensive framing) vs earlier operations.