No solution to terrorism without talks with Afghanistan: Gandapur

PESHAWAR/NOWSHERA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Wednesday reiterated that a solution to terrorism cannot be found without engaging in talks with Afghanistan.

“We have sent the Terms of Reference (TORs) for talks with Afghanistan to the federal government but despite repeated reminders, no response has been received. Terrorism is not just an issue for our province but for the entire country,” he said while talking to reporters at the Peshawar High Court and Nowshera district.

He said that the Afghan government had agreed to negotiations, and a committee was formed to determine the course of action. However, he said the federal government had not responded despite repeated reminders. He expressed confusion over the decision-making process of those sitting in Islamabad, saying that they did not care about the country.

He urged the federal government to take the provincial government’s recommendations seriously and respond to the TORs they sent long ago, as terrorism was a national issue. He warned that if the issue of terrorism was not taken seriously, it could spread to the entire country.

Challenging the Punjab government once again, he invited them to a debate, questioning their governance. He criticized them for taking credit for others’ work and said they have not initiated any new projects and are incapable of doing so.

He claimed that when their party was in power at the federal level, terrorism was completely eliminated, but after their government was removed through a conspiracy and a caretaker government took over, the situation began to deteriorate. He alleged that when terrorism spiraled out of control, the entire system started targeting PTI, abandoning efforts to counter terrorism. Instead, they focused on portraying PTI members as terrorists.

Gandapur also accused the federal government of withholding funds from KP while spending billions on promotional campaigns for its projects. He criticized them for continuously taking loans and questioned their government performance.

He also warned that there would be no leniency for those involved in terrorist attacks in Kurram, saying that arrests had been made and action would be taken against those responsible.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters during his visit to Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the recent wave of terrorism in the province, particularly the assassination of Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, who was the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami. He had gone to Nowshera to offer condolences to the family of Maulana Hamidul Haq.

The chief minister announced the formation of a high-level Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the suicide attack, ensuring that those responsible would be exposed and brought to justice. He criticized institutions responsible for public safety, alleging that their focus had shifted toward politics rather than national security.