Addressing a news conference after a meeting of the DPC, provincial president of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Prof Mohammad Ibraheem Khan claimed that thousands of people would take part in the rally from Ashraf Road to Qissa Khwani Bazaar.

Flanked by provincial president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) Maulana Yusuf Shah and general secretary Ikramullah Shahid, JI provincial general secretary Shabbir Ahmad Khan and others, Prof Ibraheem said that they would continue protests till expulsion of the foreign troops from Afghanistan.

He rejected the proposal of linking of Nato supply restoration with the US apology over the Salala incident. “We will not allow resumption of the supply route whether the US tenders an apology or not,” he stressed.

Prof Ibraheem said restoration of the Nato supply was a matter of the integrity of the country. He said the so-called war against terror had not only caused lawlessness and chaos in the country, but also ruined its economy. He said Pakistan had suffered over 100 billion dollars worth losses after becoming the frontline state of the US in the so-called war on terror. “In return Pakistan has been given only 20 billion dollars,” he maintained.

The JI leader said the incapable rulers had turned the country into a battlefield for appeasing the US. He added that the army was targetting own people in the tribal areas. He asked the government to immediately stop all the military operations in the tribal areas and settled districts of the province and resume talks to resolve the issue.