ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army has sought additional funds from the finance ministry to raise a new security division and an additional 28 security battalions, it emerged on Sunday.A statement released by the ministry of finance said senior officials from the army had a meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at his ministry in Islamabad, where the demand for “financing and the release of funds” was made by military officials.

The statement quoted Dar as saying that the “government attaches the highest importance to security matters” and assured the “provision of funds for the new security division and additional battalions.”

Pakistan Army is currently spearheading a war against terrorism in Pakistan’s northern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where terrorists from militant organisations are believed to have taken refuge.

In June 2014, the army launched a comprehensive military operation – Zarb-i-Azb – against Taliban militants threatening the writ of the state by launching brazen attacks on government and military installations.

Since then, the military has claimed to kill thousands of militants in air raids in the north and through intelligence-based operations in various parts of the country.

Related: Zarb-i-Azb: Phenomenal success achieved, says ISPR

But the threat of militancy and extremism is far from from over. Despite the military offensive and stringent counter-terror measures, Taliban terrorists managed to breach the security of a university in Charsadda last month, killing 21 students and professors in an attack that bore resemblance to the brazen Dec 2014 assault on an army-run school in Peshawar that killed 144.