\u201cClosed-door decisions\u201d once again made life difficult for people in KP, says CM Sohail Afridi
\n PESHAWAR
\nKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Wednesday called for the inclusion of the provincial government in the formulation of counter-terrorism policies.
\nAddressing a convocation at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University in Peshawar, CM Afridi said: \u201cIf [you] really want to eliminate terrorism, then come and formulate the policy with us.\u201d His remarks came a day after Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry came down hard on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership in KP, blaming it for the rising terrorism.
\nThe chief minister, while addressing the convocation, stressed that anti-terrorism operations should be carried out after taking the nation into confidence.
\nHe said that they restored peace after great hardship, but \u201cclosed-door decisions\u201d had once again made life difficult for its people.
\nThe PTI-backed chief minister said that they had rendered sacrifices for Pakistan repeatedly and would continue to do so.
\nHe expressed dissatisfaction with the compensation announced by the federal government for people whose houses were destroyed during the war on terror.
\nStressing the need for a shift in the existing policy against terrorism, the chief minister said that a new policy should be made in consultation with the KP government, tribal elders and other stakeholders.
\nAn annual report from the Centre for Research and Security Studies also mentions that KP experienced the most significant surge, where the \u201cfatalities rose from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025\u201d \u2014 more than 40% year-on-year increase in the province.
\nLt Gen Chaudhry, a day earlier, had detailed that nearly 71% of terrorist incidents occurred in 2025 reported from KP and stressed that the primary reason for this is a \u201cpolitically conducive environment and the flourishing political-criminal-terror-nexus which is flourishing there\u201d.
\nThe military\u2019s spokesperson had also criticised KP CM Afridi\u2019s position on talks and dismissed calls for Afghan security guarantees, while questioning opposition to counterterrorism operations.
\nThe PTI builds a false narrative while sitting in assemblies, he had said, questioning whether the army was sent to KP \u201cwith shovels to extract minerals\u201d.
\n\u201cIf you do not want a military operation, then what should be done \u2014 sit at the feet of khawarij?\u201d the ISPR DG had said. \u201cShould khawarij leader Noor Wali Mehsud be made the province\u2019s chief minister and allegiance pledged to him?\u201d he had asked.
\nHe had maintained that seeking assurances from a group accused of harbouring terrorists was illogical, reiterating that counterterrorism required firm state action rather than political ambiguity.
\nReferring to governance issues, he had said illegal mining was taking place in KP and linked the proliferation of illegal weapons directly to terrorism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cClosed-door decisions\u201d once again made life difficult for people in KP, says CM Sohail Afridi PESHAWAR Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Wednesday called for the inclusion of the provincial government in the formulation of counter-terrorism policies. Addressing a convocation at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University in Peshawar, CM Afridi said: \u201cIf [you] really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-524247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n