ISLAMABAD (TIP): Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered authorities to take stern action against madrasas involved in extremism and militancy in the country, in the wake of a series of deadly attacks on mosques.

No terrorist or militant organisation should be spared, Sharif said February 19 while presiding over a meeting of the Balochistan Apex Committee, set up recently to deal with the menace of militancy in the southwestern province.

These committees were formed in Pakistan’s other provinces as well after the horrific Peshawar School massacre that killed 150 people, mostly students.

“No one will be allowed to wage insurgency and commit violence under the patronage of sectarian and other organisations,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

Religious seminaries (madrasas) and organisations involved in terror activities should be identified and proceeded against, he said, adding that his government was committed to eradicate terrorism and extremism.

Sharif asked the provincial governments to implement the National Action Plan (NAP) and take stern action against terrorist organisations, it said.

“We will have to take tough decisions to achieve the objectives of the National Action Plan,” he said,

He stressed that terrorism must be dealt with sternly and militant and terrorist groups which were not ready to hold peace talks with the government would have to face action.

Pakistan faces the dilemma of how to deal with thousands of madrasas run by powerful mullahs in the country. It has been reported that several of them are linked to extremism and some of them were providing shelter to militants or sending jihadists.

Sharif while supporting religious schools has indicated to take action against those involved in militancy but so far no action has been taken.

At least three people were killed when a Taliban militant attacked a Shiite mosque in Rawalpindi yesterday, the latest incident of sectarian violence after over 60 people, including children, were killed in a similar suicide bombing during Friday prayers at a mosque in Pakistan’s Sindh province on January 30.

Two weeks after the attack, Taliban suicide bombers stormed a crowded Shia mosque in Pakistan’s Peshawar province during Friday prayers, killing more than 20 people.