Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari President, Faad Waheed Senior Vice President and Engr. Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a statement have strongly condemned the suicide blast in I-10/4, Islamabad in which one policeman embraced Shahadat and many police officers as well as civilians got injured. They expressed condolences with the bereaved family and paid tribute to the courage and valour of the martyred policeman. They also wished early recovery to the injured ones.

They said that the resurgence of the incidents of blasts and terrorist attacks are creating a lot of concerns in the business community of the country as they are feeling insecure due to such incidents. They said that the economy of Pakistan has already suffered a huge loss of over US$ 150 billion due to fighting terrorism and the country cannot afford re-emergence of terrorists in its land as it would badly damage the economy and tarnish the image of the country at national and international level.

They said that Pakistan needed a peaceful environment to promote business and investment activities to steer the economy out of current challenges. However, the incidents like terrorists’ attack at CTD Bannu and suicide blast in I-10/4, Islamabad are worrisome as any further rise in such incidents would disturb the peace of mind of businessmen and shake the confidence of local and foreign investors. This situation would further weaken the already fragile economy.

They urged that the government should fight out terrorism with full force in all its forms and manifestations and break the nexus between terrorists, their supporters and sympathisers to achieve a peaceful and stable environment. They further stressed that the writ of the state should be established at all costs and no one should be allowed to derail the hard-earned gains of the war on terror, which Pakistan had achieved after the unparalleled sacrifices of the armed forces and the nation. They assured that the business community of the entire country would fully stand with the armed forces and the security agencies to purge Pakistan of the terrorism and anti-peace elements.