Dawn
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03:21 Mar 20, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir warned religious leaders that violence in the country, triggered by events abroad, would not be tolerated, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday. “Violence in Pakistan, on the basis of incidents occurring in another country, will not be tolerated,” the military’s media wing quoted Field Marshal Munir as saying during a meeting with Shia clerics. According to ISPR, the army chief interacted with the Shia clergy earlier this week in Rawalpindi, where “matters of national security and the role of ulema in societal harmony came under discussion”. The outreach came as the military seeks to manage the domestic environment amid the US-Israeli war against Iran. Army chief interacts with Shia clerics, calls for unity and countering sectarian narratives Protests that erupted in early March, following the start of the war and the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led to several casualties and a security crackdown...