Tarar decries 'political-terror nexus' in K-P

ISLAMABAD:

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Friday said the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was "deliberately evading" its constitutional responsibility to maintain law and order in the province.

Talking to media, Tarar said the K-P government was "playing the role of a facilitator for terrorists" rather than confronting them.

Terming the law and order situation a provincial subject, he said it was incumbent upon the K-P government to address the deteriorating security situation.

The minister questioned why a provincial government, which had an absolute control over its territory, would choose not to act against militancy.

In fact, there is a "political-terror and crime nexus" built around illegal mining and the timber trade, he said.

Tarar pointed out that militancy prevailed in the province because in connivance between the politicians and terrorists, adding that the provincial politicians were "on the front" funding terrorist networks through illegal contracts and trade.

He said PTI not only abstained from condemning terrorists operating in the province but avoided taking any action against them.

The minister said when security forces came under attack from across the border in Kurram, PTI leaders did not visit the area to express solidarity with the armed forces, nor issued any statement of condemnation. "This is an indication of their cowardice," Tarar said, adding that this tantamounted to facilitating terrorism.

He also linked such cowardice to the PTI's decision to call off its planned long march to Islamabad, and said the party lacked the preparation in this regard.

He said 2,456 terrorist attacks had taken place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2026 alone, an average of roughly 10 attacks a day. He said 472 personnel of various law enforcement agencies were martyred in these attacks, while around 1,500 others had been injured.

"If a provincial government does not want to curb terrorism, this cannot be justified," he said, adding that in both the Kurram and Kohat incidents, only our forces stood while the provincial government "ran away."