New York - Pakistan has called on the United Nations for a “concerted campaign” to recover all weapons from terrorist groups, such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Speaking at the UN’s Fourth Review Conference of the Programme of Action (PoA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) on Tuesday, Ambassador Munir Akram expressed Pakistan’s “grave concern over the acquisition and use of modern and sophisticated small arms by terrorist groups, such as [the] TTP”. According to a statement issued by the Pakistani mission to the UN, Akram highlighted the “need for a concerted campaign to recover all weapons from terrorist groups like the TTP” and also called for an investigation into how these groups acquired such sophisticated weapons. They acquire them from illicit arms markets or receive them from entities that want to destabilise a particular region or country,” Ambassador Akram emphasised. He stressed the need to maintain a balanced approach between the valid concerns over arms’ illicit proliferation and legitimate security concerns of all states.
