80% terrorists foreigners: Afridi

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi has said that 80 per cent of militants and terrorists operating in the province are foreigners, whereas before the Emirate-e-Islami took over Afghanistan, most militants were locals.

He further said the unrest in the province was the result of a lack of seriousness on the part of the establishment, but maintained that peace could still be restored through negotiations. He claimed that if backed by the federal government and security forces, he could help bring peace to the province within "hundreds of days".

During an informal interaction with foreign media professionals, Afridi clarified that he had no information regarding allegations that 2,000 government employees of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government were involved in supporting militants in the province. "But he declared that he has zero tolerance against those who sympathisers and supporter elements in the governments for militants and militancy," Afridi said.

Afridi said the Afghanistan conflict had caused losses of $10 billion due to the recent closure of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa trade points, especially Torkham, adding that the province's share in trade had declined from $10 billion a month to $3 billion a month. Despite this, he stressed that dialogue remained the preferred path to resolving conflicts.

" we have suggested names for a Jirga with Afghanistan but despite proposed names and time for talks with emirate e Islami Afghanistan on TTP, but despite our seriousness the central government still unable to decide on such topic" Sohail Afridi said.

Speaking about the investigation into Mufti Sheikh Idress, Afridi said the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) was doing its best and had almost reached conclusions, adding that the culprits would soon be behind bars.

On the repatriation of Afghan refugees, he demanded that respectful measures should be adopted to protect the dignity and self-respect of Afghan citizens.