Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said Monday that any personnel of security forces found involved in cross-border smuggling would be court-martialed.
The government has intensified its crackdown on smugglers involved in transporting commodities and dollars to Afghanistan, especially in the last few months when havoc was wreaked on the already weakening economy.
The crackdown bore fruit as speculation diminished and the rupee recovered sharply against the greenback to become the best-performing currency globally, but analysts fear another round of depreciation as they are sceptical about the long-term effects of administrative measures.
If I say that security forces weren’t involved in [smuggling], it won’t be right as the [smuggled] items are transported via trucks, not camels,” Bugti said during a press conference in Islamabad.
He said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir had told military personnel that whoever is found involved in illegal cross-border trade would face the music.
“Pakistan’s army chief had told his people very clearly: there won’t only be court-martials, but those involved in such activities would also be sent to jail,” the security czar added.
Bugti told reporters that the army’s accountability mechanism is not made public and that’s why it is not in the knowledge of the masses. “But the army has its own accountability [system], and we have not just seen it in this instance, but post-May 9 as well.”
