Gen. Raheel Sharif. (Photo : Pakistan Army)
General Raheel Sharif, Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army, said his army is "equally ready" to fight a conventional war after an "unprecedented level of successes" in its war against terror along its dangerous northwestern tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, especially North Waziristan.
"Taking inspiration from our war heroes and their spirit of sacrifice, Pakistan Army has always measured up to any challenge," he told frontline troops and Pakistan Army veterans at the Sulemanki sector.
Many of the troops in this sector belong to the legendary Frontier Force Regiment that fought gloriously against the Indian Army in all four Kashmir Wars since 1965.
"With an unprecedented level of successes in war against terror, we have become the most battle-hardened Army and are equally ready for conventional war," said Gen. Sharif, who will retire from army service at the end of this month.
He also said the Pakistani military has always measured up to any challenge, and noted the Pakistan Army proudly carries its heritage and tradition of soldiering and chivalry. He praised his men for keeping vigil along the Line of Control.
Gen. Sharif warned India the Pakistan army "will continue to respond effectively, leave no stone unturned to defend motherland."
Gen. Sharif has deep emotional links to the Frontier Force Regiment. After passing-out from the Pakistan Military Academy in October 1976, he was commissioned into the 6th Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment, where his elder brother had also served.
The military situation along the now deadly Line of Control in Kashmir is deteriorating rapidly.
Gen. Sharif made these remarks after attending the funerals of seven of his soldiers killed by Indian Army fire on Nov. 14. It was the largest loss suffered in a single day by the Pakistan Army during the current crisis in its almost daily artillery, mortar and small arms fire duels across the LoC.
The Indian Army reported 286 incidents of firing and shelling along the LoC and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan Army troops. Pakistani fire has killed 26 Indian citizens, including 14 Indian security personnel, since the Indian Army's surgical strike on terrorist launch pads in Pakistani-administered Kashmir on Sept. 29.
