Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan] January 3, (ANI): Despite the volatile law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, senior police officials indicate that terrorists are focusing on the southern districts, owing to their proximity to Afghanistan and the continued presence of a functional network across the border, according to a report by Dawn.
During a meeting on Tuesday, officials informed lawmakers that terrorists had established safe havens in southern districts such as Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu, and Lakki Marwat.
The meeting, chaired by Provincial Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, was attended by lawmakers primarily from the merged districts and parliamentary leaders from all political parties. Police Chief Akhtar Hayat Khan provided a briefing to the attendees.
According to sources familiar with the meeting, lawmakers were presented with an overview of the current law and order situation, the operations conducted against terrorists, and the capabilities of the police force, Dawn reported.
“From this meeting, I would say some 30 percent of Dera Ismail Khan district, the hometown of Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur and police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan, is, if not totally, under control of militants to some extent,” a lawmaker told Dawn.
He said that police could not patrol in Kulachi, Draband and many other areas of the district. “Militants come out during the night and disappear in the day,” the lawmaker said.
Sources familiar with the meeting reported that the police chief was inundated with questions, many of which remained unanswered. “Mr. Khan also left several questions unresolved, directing lawmakers to pose them to others, specifically the army,” they noted.
The police chief informed the lawmakers that the police were taking the lead in operations across all merged districts, except for Bajaur, where the military was leading anti-terrorist operations.
He explained that terrorists had been targeting the merged districts, benefiting from a still intact supply line, referring to the Afghan Taliban’s support for banned groups carrying out militant attacks in Pakistan. He further stated that the network was interconnected.
The police chief told lawmakers that approximately 4,000 terrorists, including 35 percent Afghan nationals, were present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He added that there were currently around 188 militant formations (Tashkeels) operating in the region. When asked why the number of checkposts wasn’t increased, given the severity of the situation, instead of vacating them at night, the police chief explained that they lacked the capacity to defend so many attacks on the posts.
“I understand that this is beyond the capacity of police as they are not trained to fight against heavily armed terrorists,” an MPA told Dawn. He said that funds being spent on the military for fighting against terrorists should be spent on training and equipping provincial police so that their capacity was built.
The police chief also told lawmakers that thousands of terrorists had been arrested, but he criticised the justice system for failing to punish them. According to sources, he mentioned that his department had developed different strategies for each district. He added that lawmakers would be briefed individually on matters related to their respective districts, considering the sensitivity of the issue.
A lawmaker further questioned, “Political leadership can play a significant role, but I wonder what the priorities of the provincial government are.”
He told Dawn that the members of the treasury benches in the provincial assembly, who attended the meeting, should relay the message to the chief minister about the current situation. The meeting was convened after Mr. Swati, during a KP Assembly session on Monday, instructed provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan to brief the assembly on the law and order situation.
This order followed a debate in the house regarding the “poor” security situation in the province. Sources also mentioned that the inspector general of the Frontier Corps and the Peshawar corps commander would provide an in-camera briefing to lawmakers next week. (ANI)
