Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday said the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governments are now \u201con the same page\u201d on tackling terrorism, stressing that the provincial government must lead the fight to achieve results. Speaking at a provincial apex committee meeting chaired by KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, Naqvi said the two governments had experienced significant differences over the past two-and-a-half years but were now aligned on security priorities. \u201cFor the first time today, I can proudly say that the federal government and the provincial government are on the same page,\u201d Naqvi said. The meeting was convened to review the province\u2019s security situation, with the proposed deployment of army troops in 12 sensitive districts expected to feature prominently on the agenda. The meeting comes a day after President Asif Ali Zardari promulgated emergency rule and imposed governor\u2019s rule in the province, suspending the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led provincial government amid worsening security concerns and escalating tensions between Islamabad and the opposition party. Under the measures announced on Sunday, the provincial government\u2019s executive powers were transferred to the governor, while an 11-member advisory council was constituted to oversee provincial affairs. The federal government also authorised the deployment of army personnel under Article 245 of the Constitution to assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order. The interior minister paid tribute to security personnel fighting terrorism in the province, saying they had continued their operations despite what he described as inadequate support from the provincial government in the past. Naqvi said security personnel had made sacrifices while the government responsible for leading the fight against terrorism had failed to provide the necessary leadership. \u201cNo war can be won, no matter how many resources you bring in, unless the government there leads it,\u201d he said, adding that the federal government had repeatedly asked the provincial authorities to cooperate. He said the same security personnel would achieve better results if they received the necessary support and leadership from the provincial government. \u201cThese are the same forces and the same people. The only difference you will see is that when the government leads them, they will deliver results,\u201d he said. The federal government has defended its decision to impose emergency rule, alleging that the provincial administration failed to cooperate adequately with Islamabad on counterterrorism measures. The PTI, meanwhile, has rejected the emergency and governor\u2019s rule, accusing the federal government of undermining the province\u2019s electoral mandate and provincial autonomy. Naqvi called for the implementation of a five-district plan to strengthen the police and other law enforcement institutions in the province. Under the proposed first phase, the government would spend six months strengthening law enforcement agencies in five districts, he said. The proposal comes as the apex committee prepares to review security arrangements in 12 districts considered particularly sensitive because of militancy. The federal government has also announced plans to establish a separate secretariat to oversee administrative affairs in the 12 districts most affected by terrorism. The secretariat is to operate under an additional chief secretary, with resources directed towards security and reconstruction efforts. Naqvi stressed that security personnel needed adequate resources and equipment to confront militants, pointing out that police officers could not be expected to fight effectively if their opponents possessed more advanced weapons. He also praised the governor and the corps commander for their work on proposals to improve the police\u2019s capabilities, saying the measures could prove a turning point for the force. Kundi said the provincial government, federal government and security agencies would work together against terrorism and extremism. He said security was the government\u2019s foremost priority and that the authorities would meet the requirements of the police, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and other law enforcement agencies. \u201cWe can make sacrifices in development, but we cannot compromise on security,\u201d Kundi said. The governor said the authorities needed to align their priorities and improve coordination, adding that the provincial government would be expected to demonstrate results through its performance. He called for a results-oriented approach, saying the government should focus on tangible improvements in security rather than symbolic gestures or publicity. Kundi also said officials would have to work continuously to meet public expectations, adding that those unwilling to perform could be replaced. The governor had chaired a separate security meeting on Sunday to review the province\u2019s law and order situation and threats posed by militancy. That meeting emphasised strengthening the police, the CTD and other law enforcement agencies, with operational capacity identified as a priority. The interior minister praised residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and law enforcement agencies for their response over the preceding 24 hours. He said there had been expectations that roads would be blocked and unrest would spread across the province, but the situation had remained peaceful. \u201cI appreciate the people of KP, particularly all our law enforcement agencies, for the way they handled the past 24 hours,\u201d he said. Naqvi said the federal and provincial governments would work together to defeat terrorism, adding that they would seek to address coordination gaps that had affected their efforts in the past. Kundi said terrorism had restricted the ability of people in affected areas, including Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and South Waziristan, to travel and live freely. He said restoring peace was essential to unlocking the province\u2019s economic potential, including its tourism, natural resources and investment opportunities. The governor added that the apex committee would continue meeting regularly to share proposals, address coordination gaps and follow up on decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Interior Minister Mohsin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10694,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeetnews.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}