Lawmakers from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) reportedly criticized the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime counter terrorism policy In the country’s first cabinet meeting since Suicide blast in a mosque in Peshawar on Wednesday, as reported dawn,
According to the report, the Pakistani MPs also claimed that the National Assembly was never in agreement with the anti-terrorist policies and strategies of the previous Imran Khan government. It added that PTI officials now regret the “erroneous” decision of holding talks with militants and allowing them to settle in the country during his administration.
dawn The report noted that both the PMLN defense minister, Khawaja Asif, and the interior, Rana Sanaullah, were critical of the previous regime.
Let’s see in detail:
peshawar blast
A suicide bomber targeted a mosque inside a police compound in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday. Hundreds of policemen were attending afternoon prayers in a compound that should have been tightly controlled. When the blast occurred, it brought down a wall and crushed the officers; According to the latest figures, 84 people have died.
Officials are probing how a major breach could have happened in one of the most sensitive areas of the city, which houses the intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus and is next to the regional secretariat.
It is Pakistan’s deadliest attack in years and the worst since violence in the region began following the Afghan Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021.
Authorities are also probing the possibility that people inside the compound helped coordinate the attack, a senior city police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.
“We have detained people from the police line (headquarters) to get to the bottom of how the explosive material got inside and to see if any police officers were also involved in the attack,” he told AFP. the police officer told AFP. At least 23 people were detained, including some from former tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan.
The attack has left a scarred city on edge, reminiscent of more than a decade ago when Peshawar was at the center of a ferocious insurgency waged by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), before an evacuation operation forced them into the mountainous border and flown in Afghanistan.
Analysts say militants have become emboldened since the withdrawal of US and NATO troops Afghanistan And the Taliban swept into Kabul, with Islamabad accusing them of failing to secure its borders.
Security forces have since become the target of an increase in low-level attacks, often at checkpoints.
Attacks are mostly claimed by the TTP as well as local chapters of the Islamic State, but attacks resulting in mass casualties are rare. The TTP has distanced itself from the Peshawar mosque blast, saying it will no longer attack places of worship. However, police said authorities were investigating whether an occasional associate of the group was responsible.
Has terrorism increased?
Pakistan has seen numerous terrorist attacks over the past two decades, but there has been a spurt since November, when the TTP ended a months-long ceasefire with the government.
The Pakistani Taliban regularly carry out shootings or bombings, especially in the rugged and remote northwestern Pakistan, a former stronghold of the TTP.
The violence has sparked fears among residents of a possible military operation in the two districts of the former tribal regions of North and South Waziristan, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Hours after Monday’s mosque bombing, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told the independent Geo news channel that Afghan Taliban rulers must stick to their commitment to the international community that no one should use their weapons for attacks against another country. The use of earth will not be allowed.
“He should honor his promises,” he added.
What do the current MLAs say?
Dawn report said that at the cabinet meeting, Khawaja Asif claimed the briefings during the PTI era were ‘inconclusive’, with opposition leaders only informed about final decisions, voted on in the National Assembly Without.
“The House did not approve the earlier decisions of almost two years ago. We came to know that this decision was made only in the briefing. Who will now be held responsible for this slaughter?” he is quoted as saying.
“When Russian troops entered Afghanistan, we sowed the seeds of terrorism and hired our services to the United States,” he continued.
It was reported that Sanaullah said that PTI had claimed that 8,000 terrorists should be given an opportunity to surrender as around 25,000 family members including children were also attached to them.
Citing the increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Sanaullah said, “This decision may have been made with good intentions but this policy proved to be wrong.”
The minister has been quoted as saying that the PTI government had released thousands of militants, some of whom were sentenced to death.
“The prime minister and top brass of the armed forces must keep this legislature in the loop. Parliamentary discussion is necessary.
Senators Mushid Hussain Syed and Tahir Bizenjo, both of the PML-N, have demanded a review of the government’s stand on terrorism and Afghanistan.
AFP, with inputs from The Associated Press
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