In the name of peace: 2010 Ghallanai blast victims remembered

Dai’sh recruiting activists from Pakistan, Afghanistan, says Mian Iftikhar

GHALLANAI: Differences between the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan will help the Islamic State (IS) achieve its own ends.

This was stated by Awami National Party Central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain during a tribal jirga held in Ghallanai, Mohmand Agency. The jirga was held in remembrance of the 40 people who died in a bomb blast in Ghallanai on December 6, 2010. It was addressed by ANP K-P General Secretary and ANP Fata President Imran Afridi among others.

“The Islamic State is using manpower from Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he said. “I strongly believe Afghanistan and Pakistan need to reconcile their differences to combat these threats.”

Mian Iftikhar said peace in Pakistan is interlinked with peace in Afghanistan and is only possible when both states cooperate with each other.

He criticised international interest groups, saying over 40 states sponsor IS’s terrorist activities.

“Their main purpose is to run their ammunition factories through war,” he said.

He also demanded Fata be merged with K-P and also be included in the CPEC project.

“The education sector in Fata also needs to be improved,” he said

ANP K-P General Secretary Sardar Hussain Babak said his party will fight alongside Fata’s people for their rights to integrate with K-P. “Fata used to be a peaceful area,” he said. “But terrorism has thwarted peace and ruined infrastructure in the tribal belt.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th,  2015.