PTI favours talks to end terrorism

Responding to the press conference of the military's top spokesperson, the PTI — which rules over restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province — has said the blame for terrorism cannot be placed on any single party and that the issue of terror can only be resolved through dialogue.

On Saturday, PTI leaders Salman Akram Raja, Junaid Akbar, Asad Qaiser and Taimur Jhagra held a joint press conference at the party's provincial secretariat in Peshawar.

The press conference came a day after Inter-Services Public Religions (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told the K-P government to work on protecting the people of the province instead of "begging" Taliban led Afghanistan for security.

Addressing the media, Salman Akram Raja said the party would not respond word for word to the DG ISPR's press conference as it did not wish to engage in a confrontation.

"However, the language used for us will cause harm. We stand against every force that is against Pakistan but terrorism cannot be eliminated through military power alone—the party founder [Imran Khan] has said the same. Balochistan and the K-P are bleeding."

Raja claimed that during the PTI's rule in the Centre, incidents of terrorism were at their lowest. Even though former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani had ties with India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), terrorism in the K-P decreased," he said.

He questioned why Pakistan had distanced itself from the Afghan government. He said Imran had ordered reforms in the province, which was a positive move. "Whenever attempts were made to push back a political party, violence and bloodshed followed," he observed.

Raja recalled that the PML-N led federal government itself initiated talks with the TTP in 2022. "[PML-N's] Rana Sanaullah also spoke about negotiations with the Taliban. We must determine who brought these militants back in 2021," he demanded. He said the Pakistan Army is our army and the PTI does not stand against it.

"For God's sake, do not level false accusations against us. There must be a comprehensive political strategy to counter terrorism. Where weapons are raised, action should be taken. We stand for the Constitution and the law," he concluded.

PTI's provincial president Junaid Akbar said the party supports dialogue with the Taliban. "Solutions can only be found through talks. This is not Punjab—here, progress depends on listening to the people," he said.

Akbar said the party had full confidence in Imran's new pick for the K-P's chief ministerial position Sohail Afridi, adding that PTI would ensure his success in the election for the CM.

He said the party's parliamentary meeting had decided that 92 members would vote for Sohail Afridi as the CM. "All our workers stand with him," he said confidently.

"Bringing a CM from the former tribal areas aims to end the deprivations of the tribal people. Obstacles being placed in the CM's election send a wrong message to them," he warned.