KP apex committee meeting: Police, CTD to go after militant groups

PESHAWAR: For bringing a durable peace and stability to the province, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Apex Committee on Thursday agreed that the provincial police force and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) would go after all militant groups and armed gangs, irrespective of their status and identity, and eliminate all their centres, offices and sanctuaries where they were located in the province.

The meeting made it clear that the military had no intention of launching any fresh offensive anywhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, therefore, there must be an end to propaganda regarding “Operation Azm-e-Estehkam” announced by the prime minister.

The Apex Committee meeting was held with Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in the chair. Corps Commander Peshawar Lt-Gen Omer Ahmed Bokhari, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan Gandapur, Additional Chief Secretary for Home and Tribal Affairs Mohammad Abid Majeed and other senior government, police and military officials attended the meeting.

Five members of the Bannu Amn Jirga, who played a key role in normalising the situation in the restive Bannu district by holding talks with the chief minister in Peshawar, also participated in the meeting. They included elderly politician Baz Mohammad, Nasir Bangash, Prof Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, Adnan Wazir, and provincial minister Malik Pakhtun Yar Khan. Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations, Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, who also attended the meeting, later briefed the journalists about the outcome of the Apex Committee meeting. “The committee meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere in which the overall security situation of the province was discussed, and particularly the recent developments in Bannu, after the peace march there. It was decided that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police force and CTD will play a frontline role in the ongoing campaign against terrorism in the province,” Barrister Saif said.

He, however, argued that whenever needed, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would call the army and paramilitary forces in support of the police and CTD. Barrister Saif said the chief minister had clearly stated that there would be no private armed groups or gangs to operate in any capacity anywhere in the province and directed the police and CTD to take immediate action against those groups.

Regarding recent reports raised about the operational capacity, lack of resources and insufficient manpower of CTD, Barrister Saif said that it was decided in the committee meeting that efforts would be made to address all these issues and challenges that the force was presently facing.

He said the KP government had allocated Rs3.03 billion for improving the capacity of the police force and particularly CTD, recruiting more staff and procuring modern arms and equipment to help them better handle the deteriorating security situation of the province.

It was decided in the Apex Committee meeting that a judicial inquiry would be conducted into the Bannu incident and those responsible for creating the law and order situation would be prosecuted. The committee members said lodging a peaceful protest was a fundamental constitutional right of every citizen of the country, but they would not be allowed to create a law and order situation, damaging public and private properties as well as government installations.

They decided to form different communities at divisional and district levels, including civil and military officials as well as elected representatives to regularly hold meetings and find amicable and immediate solutions to those issues and concerns of the public so that people don’t have misunderstandings about the institutions and their officials.

It was decided that the army would handle the security situation in the areas close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas till the police and CTD were raised to a certain level to take responsibility. The committee also discussed the socio-economic status of the people of tribal districts due to the lack of industries and business opportunities and agreed to keep certain border points open for trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan and discourage smuggling and illegal activities on the border. They agreed to allow trade on different routes including Angoor Adda, Ghulam Khan, Kharlachi, Torkham, and in Mohmand and Bajaur tribal districts.