Daily Times

After the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government was blamed for misplacing the law-and-order priorities, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur strongly rejected the Centre’s claims of his administration’s inability to cope with security challenges and empower Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in the province.

“The law and order situation has improved in our government,” said Gandapur addressing a press conference in Peshawar on Sunday in which he responded to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s statement pointing towards the CTD’s ineffectiveness to uproot terrorism in the province. He added that the counterterrorism department was fully functional and carried out “thousands of successful operations” against terrorists. He further detailed that the provincial government will disburse an additional Rs1 billion to the CTD. Special cells have been prepared for the department to keep the arrested suspects, he added. The KP CM went on to say that his administration was also purchasing 20 bulletproof vehicles besides announcing to hand over funds to the CTD personnel for 300 kits and drones.

He added that the quota for martyred officials has been increased from 5% to 12%, as well as, awarding plots to the heirs of the martyrs. The firebrand chief minister castigated KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi for summoning an all-parties conference (APC) to discuss the KP’s law and order situation. When asked whether or not CM Gandapur would be invited to the APC, the governor said all the central and provincial leadership of the political parties would be invited and he was the provincial president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The pressers comes as clashes between rival tribes in Kurram district continued for the 11th consecutive day, claiming six more lives and leaving eight injured. The death toll now stands at 130, with 186 others wounded, hospital officials confirmed. Among the injured, five remain in critical condition. The violence has paralysed life in the region, shutting down major routes, including the Peshawar-Parachinar highway and the Pak-Afghan Kharlachi border crossing. The closures have caused severe shortages of essential supplies, including fuel, food, and medicines.