Call for establishing an economic corridor with Afghanistan at border crossing points.

ISLAMABAD   -   Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have said that military operation is not the solution to the problems after the government approved the operation “Azm-e-Istehkam”.

The development came during a meeting between PTI’s Asad Qaiser and JUI-F Emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday in Islamabad, a statement released on Sunday said, with both expressing concern over the deteriorating security, law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Both politicians stressed the role of political parties in achieving peace and stability in the province. The two sides also agreed on fulfilling the role of opposition in the National Assembly as well as on the constitution of a political committee to address various issues between them and formulate a political strategy.

They also agreed on playing their role for establishing brotherly relations with Afghanistan and also called for the establishment of an economic corridor with the neighbouring country at border crossing points. The two parties’ statement regarding military operation comes a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave the go-ahead to “Azm-e-Istehkam”, a national counter-terrorism drive to turn up the heat on militants targeting the state of Pakistan.

Separately, speaking outside the Parliament House today, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said that the legislature must be taken into confidence before any operation is launched. “We do not support any operation,” said Qasier, adding that any decision or agreement reached must be brought before the parliament.

The government’s decision to launch a new operation was taken during a meeting of the Central Apex Committee on National Action Plan (NAP), which was approved with the consensus of all stakeholders including provinces, Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), a statement from the PM’s Office said. The renewed and full-blown kinetic efforts of the armed forces would be augmented by full support from all law enforcement agencies. The move comes as the country has witnessed a significant surge in terrorist attacks in recent months resulting in scores of both civilian and security forces’ casualties.

Pakistan has time again called on Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration to prevent its soil from being used by various terrorist organisations against Pakistan — an allegation Kabul has denied. According to the Q1 2024 Security Report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) regarding terrorism-related statistics in the first four months of 2024,  the country witnessed at least 432 violence-linked fatalities and 370 injuries among civilians, security personnel and outlaws resulting from as many as 245 incidents of terror attacks and counter-terror operations. Among the 432 fatalities, 281 included that of civilians and security forces personnel. At least 92% of all fatalities and 86% of attacks, including those related to terrorism and security forces operations, were recorded in KP and Balochistan provinces in first quarter of 2024, the report said.