(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-06 20:59

ISLAMABAD -- Some 667 people were killed and 1,821 others were injured in 157 terrorist attacked this year in Pakistan, which reflects the grim picture the country has to confront, according to Interior Ministry spokesman (Retd) Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema.

At a weekly briefing here Tuesday, Cheema said that the state security apparatus was not idle.

Although it prevented many possible attacks with timely detection and action, he said, the enormity of the challenge posed by the planners and executors of suicide bombings was too complex and difficult to overcome completely and rapidly.

The spokesman said that the difficulties were compounded by a lack of understanding in the higher echelons of the judiciary that the law enforcement and security agencies needed a little more room and leeway to deal with the extraordinary situation.

Cheema said that the measures taken by the country's leadership last Saturday came after thorough deliberations. He said that there was no other option but to act firmly to avert the mounting dangers to national security and integrity.

He said that the government was determined to contain and eliminate the menace of terrorism which is the desire of the entire nation, adding that the government was fully conscious to ensure the continuity of the political process so that smooth transition to fully democracy was satisfactorily achieved through fair, free and transparent general elections.

He said that police and paramilitary personnel had been called to help maintain law and order in the wake of the proclamation of emergency. He said that clear instructions had also been issued to them to act with prudence, foresightedness and restraint.

The spokesman said that at some places Monday law enforcement personnel were compelled to take action in accordance with the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) and it was defied as lawyers staged the rallies.

He said that unfortunately there were some clashes between police and lawyers in the eastern city of Lahore and the southern city of Karachi during which a number of policemen and protesters were injured.

He hoped that political parties, lawyers and all other segments of society would extend their cooperation to defeat the nefarious designs of terrorists and extremists to create instability and derail the election process.

He said that all those held in preventive detention over the past few days due to potential threat to public peace and order would not be kept under restrictions a day longer than necessary.