ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday strongly condemned what he said was a social media campaign regarding an assassination attempt on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, and expressed the resolve to “crush all conspiracies” against Pakistan and state institutions.

According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the premier said similar thinking was done for the events of May 9 — when military installations were attacked during violent protests in the country following the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan.

“A clear message to the planners, facilitators and handlers of May 9: All conspiracies against Pakistan and its institutions will be crushed,” PM Shehbaz said.

He said that “vile” media campaign against the COAS and army was the result of planning by an “evil mind”. He said that “conspiratorial minds and elements” were once again working against political and economic stability in the country.

The prime minister said that the new campaign was one aspect of the abhorrent drive against the country’s martyrs.

The premier instructed the relevant agencies to take action against those responsible both at home and abroad.

Asserting that the media campaign against the COAS and the army did not fall under freedom of speech, he said, “This is only a conspiracy; stopping it is a legal responsibility.”

He said that the nation would thwart this conspiracy in the same way it had foiled the plot to spread violence in the country on May 9.

“Desperate elements will not be allowed to create a new crisis in the country,” he said, adding that the nation stood by its armed forces and its leader.

While the premier did not name anyone in the statement issued by the PMO, he lambasted the PTI chief on Twitter for the “vile, sinister and malicious campaign” against the COAS.

“His trick of using the proxies to threaten the army chief of an assassination attempt has been badly exposed,” he said.

“After his methodically planned attack on state symbols failed, he is clearly desperate and wants to coerce his way back into power, little knowing that the time of his politics of intimidation, violence and hatred is over,” he added.

“Through such highly condemnable antics, he is only exposing himself, the core of which is defined by putting his personal interest (power grab) over everything else.”

Shehbaz added that the people of Pakistan as well as political parties stood behind the COAS and the armed forces “like a rock” and would thwart “any attempt and conspiracy at undermining their prestige, honour and integrity”.

The premier had released a similar statement in March, condemning the the “vile campaign” against the Pakistan Army and COAS abroad and called on overseas Pakistanis to raise their voices against it.

The PMO statement had come a day after hundreds of Pakistanis Americans had gathered outside the White House, ignoring freezing cold and biting winds, to demand an end to the government’s actions against Imran.

“The campaign against the army chief is intolerable and a continuation of the conspiracy against the institutions,” PM Shehbaz had said in a statement issued by the PMO.

He had also stated that ex-premier Imran was dragging state institutions and their heads into his dirty politics, which was against the Constitution.