Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has vowed to eliminate terrorism from the province during the first meeting of the KP Advisory Council.
“The time has now come to give the people of the province, who have rendered these sacrifices, the right to peace. Our fight is against terrorism. Our fight is against the ideology and network which facilitates terrorism and weakens the implementation of the law,” he said.
He said Pakhtuns are not responsible for terrorism but are among its “biggest victims”.
The governor added that his first priority would be to protect peace and the people of the province. To achieve this, he said, the capacity of the police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) would be enhanced.
Addressing the newly formed council, Governor Kundi said peace would help attract tourists and investors to the province.
“If we have peace, we will get tourists and investors. My support is with you. I am available for you 24/7,” he said.
This was the governor’s first meeting with the advisory council since the imposition of emergency rule in KP.
Earlier, the federal government imposed emergency and the governor’s rule in the province after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) refused to take strict action against terrorism.
The federal cabinet reviewed the security situation in KP during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.
The cabinet subsequently recommended that the prime minister advise President Asif Ali Zardari to exercise his constitutional powers to impose an emergency in KP under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.
Later, it was announced that the president had decided to impose an emergency amid rising incidents of terrorism and a deteriorating law and order situation.