PESHAWAR : Following their emergency session on Thursday after the assassination of provincial law minister Israrullah Gandapur, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet reconvened on Friday to demand an immediate halt to drone strikes, and let the Taliban open an office.The cabinet session, presided over by KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, demanded an immediate end to drone strikes from the federal government. The members also urged the Taliban to stop killings on humanitarian grounds.
Referring to an earlier statement of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Taliban being allowed to open their offices in the country, the cabinet said that the demand was made to turn peace talks into a reality. The cabinet argued that by allowing Taliban to open offices, external forces will not be able to derail the peace process. The cabinet further said that provinces should be kept in confidence about the ongoing attempts at peace talks with the Taliban.
The provincial cabinet also approved the establishment of an anti-terrorism task force which will be led by the inspector general of police and comprise members of all law enforcement and intelligence agencies including the army, Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary.
The cabinet also demanded that the Centre return the Frontier Constabulary’s platoons back to the province so that they can be deployed at sensitive places for controlling law and order and fighting terrorism.
The cabinet in another decision called upon the federal government to pace up the peace talks process as KP is facing the brunt of terrorist attacks. They also agreed on monitoring of all Afghan refugees living in the capital and deportation of those found to be involved in any criminal activity.
The cabinet has also ordered property dealers to submit data of the tenants living in rented houses in the city to detect terrorists and criminal elements.
The All Parties Conference (APC) in September saw major political parties decide that dialogue would be pursued as a way to counter terrorism. However, recent attacks by Taliban have called the APC resolution into question. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed that no serious attempts have been made by the government at holding talks.
