Rise in terror alarming, but situation under control: interior minister

ISLAMABAD: The rise in terror activities is alarming but the situation is not out of control, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Thursday.

The federal minister was speaking to the media in the federal capital after attending a meeting to review the overall security situation in the country following a suicide blast in Quetta a day earlier.

The terror activities by banned outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in Pakistan should be concerning for the Afghan Taliban as it threatens the entire region's peace, he said, asking the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to address it before the federal government takes matters into its own hands.

The minister said that TTP claiming responsibility for the Baleli suicide bombing is both alarming and condemnable.

The statement came in as a condemnation of the banned outfit's announcement that it was behind the targeted attack on a police truck on Wednesday that killed a cop and three civilians, including children, and left 23 cops among 26 others injured.

"TTP is enjoying all sorts of facilities in Afghanistan. It should be a matter of concern for Afghanistan as well.

"The KP CM didn't attend the meetings chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif related to law and order," the minister said and told the chief minister that he should have come as certain things are above politics because the state is more important.

The minister said that individuals from TTP, who want peace, should be given safe passage. He said that the military leadership also agreed to this, which is why the talks are held on a regular basis.

As far as the operations are concerned, powerful operations are being conducted and it is reported on a daily basis that the armed forces are sacrificing their lives in the line of duty, he added.

'PTI trying to destabilise country'

Turning to the domestic crisis, the PML-N leader said that "a group led by a crazy person is bent upon creating anarchy in the country".

Sanaullah said that they [this group] is making every effort to destabilise the country.

"Economy can not strengthen when there's political uncertainty in the country. When they [PTI] were in government their agenda was to eliminate the Opposition and now they are trying to destabilise the country."

He said that the PTI's announcement to quit assemblies is part of their plan to trigger a crisis. "If you don't want to be part of this corrupt system, you should opt-out of Senate, AJK, and Gilgit Baltistan assemblies as well."

The minister said that elections will be held only on Punjab and KP assembly seats while the general election will be held on time.

"Announcement to dissolve assemblies in rallies is unconstitutional and undemocratic."

We will try to stop the assemblies from being dissolved, he said.

Speaking about the no-trust motion and the governor's rule, the interior minister said that all of these are constitutional means.