FAISALABAD:
Prime Minister’s Political Affairs Advisor Rana Sanaullah has said that if the PTI wants to engage in politics in the country, it should support its armed forces today.
“Yeah [PTI] is today with the Pakistan Army, its martyrs and Pakistan without any ifs and buts, then a way forward can be opened for them,” Sana said on Sunday while speaking at a press conference in his hometown of Faisalabad. The Prime Minister’s advisor was apparently referring to the Pakistan Army’s response to firing by Afghan forces along the western border.
According to security sources, Afghan forces on Saturday night opened unprovoked fire at multiple locations along the border, including Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir and Chitral areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Zhob district in Balochistan province.
The objective of the shooting, they added, was to facilitate the cross-border movement of the “Khawarij” formations, TTP agents. Pakistan army posts responded quickly and forcefully.
The Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday that 23 Pakistan Army soldiers embraced martyrdom during the clash, which also left 200 Taliban and TTP operatives dead.
A day before the clashes, the ISPR chief had publicly criticized the PTI, which rules Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, and advised it to work to protect the people of the province instead of “begging” the Taliban in Afghanistan for security.
Responding to the ISPR chief’s press conference, the PTI said that the blame for terrorism cannot be attributed to any party and the issue of terrorism can only be resolved through dialogue.
Addressing the media on Saturday, Salman Akram Raja said that the PTI opposes any force that is against Pakistan “but terrorism cannot be eliminated by military power alone,” the party founder said. [Imran Khan] has said the same. Balochistan and KP are bleeding.”
Raja claimed that during the PTI government at the Centre, incidents of terrorism were at their lowest point. Although former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had links with India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), terrorism in the KP decreased,” he said.
He questioned why Pakistan had distanced itself from the Afghan government. He said Imran had ordered reforms in the province, which was a positive move. “Every time an attempt was made to push back a political party, there was violence and bloodshed,” he observed.
Raja recalled that the PML-N-led federal government itself began talks with the TTP in 2022. “[PML-N’s] Rana Sanaullah also spoke about the negotiations with the Taliban. “We must determine who brought these militants back in 2021,” he demanded.
