Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad

Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad (Urdu: آپریشن رد الفساد; lit. 'Rejection of Strife') is a codename of a combined military operation by the Pakistani military in support of local law enforcement agencies to disarm and eliminate the terrorist sleeper cells across all states of Pakistan, started on 22 February 2017. The operation is aimed to eliminate the threat of terrorism, and consolidating the gains of Operation Zarb-e-Azb which was launched in 2014 as a joint military offensive. It is further aimed at ensuring the security of Pakistan's borders. The operation is ongoing active participation from Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Police and other Warfare and Civil Armed Forces managed under the Government of Pakistan. More than 375,000 operations have been carried out against terrorists so far. This Operation has been mostly acknowledged after Operation Zarb e Azb.

Pakistan had faced the worst brunt of terrorism due to its proximity to the all-time unstable Afghanistan and radicalization injected into the region since the Afghan-Russo war of 1979. Offering our land to host global Jihadism in the 80s changed the social fabric, resulting in a massive onslaught of terrorism that Pakistan had gone through since then. The pinnacle of infusion of venom by the multi-headed serpent of radicalization and terrorism was the era of 2006-2014. Pakistan Army fought terrorism gallantry and became the only army in the world that defeated terrorism without external help through several military operations, the biggest such operation was "Operation Zarb-e-Azb" which was started in June 2014. This operation successfully eliminated terrorist hideouts, nurseries, and breeding grounds in urban as well as far-flung areas. However, Pakistan could not be left without placing a mechanism that could ensure continuity and sustainability in anti-terrorism efforts to consolidate the gains we had achieved through Operation Zarb-e-Azb. At that time the change of command in the Pakistan Army was crucial and after the retirement of the then COAS Gen Raheel Sharif, everybody who had been covering operations against terrorism understood that the long-lasting success of Operation Zarb-e-Azb was depending upon an Army leadership that could manage the rehabilitation of internally displaced people in our erstwhile Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA areas), Swat Valley and all other Afghan bordering areas.

The operation entailed the conduct of Broad Spectrum Security (Counter Terrorism) operations by Rangers in Punjab, continuation of ongoing operations across the country and focus on more effective border security management. Countrywide disarmament and explosive control were also given as additional objectives of the operation. The National Action Plan was pursued as the hallmark of this operation.