PESHAWAR: Thousands of protesters, who had been staging a sit-in in Pakistan’s Bannu district for a week, on Friday called off their protest after Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur assured them that no military operation was being launched in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
Pakistan’s government last month announced a new campaign to counter a fresh surge in militancy in areas along the border with Afghanistan. Major opposition parties opposed the operation and in Bannu — where eight soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing last week — thousands held rallies to call for peace and security.
One of the key demands of the protesters in Bannu was for the government to not launch any new military operation in the province. They demanded that a spike in militant attacks in the region be tackled by empowering and better equipping civilian agencies like the police and the counter-terrorism department (CTD).
On Friday, CM Gandapur traveled to Bannu where he spoke to the protesters and announced at a rally that all their demands had been accepted in letter and spirit, lauding local elders for helping avert violence when two protesters were killed after gunfire triggered a stampede at the rally on June 19.
“I have a signed copy [of the demands]. It has been done the way you [protesters] wanted,” he told the gathering. “I’m the owner of this soil and land, no one can oppress me or coerce me. As chief minister, I declare that there will be no operation in the province.”
The announcement came a day after the provincial apex committee, which comprises civilian leaders and military commanders in the province, met to discuss the situation in Bannu. The KP government later clarified that police and the CTD would be tasked to take action against militants amid a surge in violence in the area.
The resentment for military operation stems from past displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and destruction of countless homes and businesses in successive military campaigns in KP that began in 2014. But Pakistani military spokesman Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry dispelled the fears this week, saying the newly proposed Azm-e-Istehkam campaign was not meant to be a full-scale military operation.
“We have offered sacrifices for our homeland and stood loyal to the country and its people. We left our homes and became nomads for our land and for the sake of peace,” Gandapur said. “We will offer sacrifices again but we will make the decisions ourselves and will not allow anyone to impose their decisions.”
The chief minister appreciated police for taking swift action against illegal armed groups in Bannu.
Provincial Minister for Public Health Engineering Pakhtunyar Khan, who hails from Bannu, said the people of the region had experienced “unspeakable hardships” for the sake of peace.
“We want peace for the entire province and we will not back down from this demand,” Khan said at the rally.
On Thursday, the apex committee said the judiciary would be requested to hold an inquiry into the Bannu shooting incident, a demand that had been put forward by protesters and Pakistan’s opposition alliance.
“Meanwhile, the government will hold its own inquiry and identify the persons responsible,” it said in a statement.
Protesters in northwest Pakistan end weeklong sit-in after CM assures no military operation being launched
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Protesters in northwest Pakistan end weeklong sit-in after CM assures no military operation being launched
- Pakistan’s government last month announced a new campaign to counter a fresh surge in militancy in areas along the border with Afghanistan
- The announcement raised fears among locals as past operations displaced hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed livelihoods in region
Pakistan-Saudi-Turkiye defense deal in pipeline, Pakistani minister says
- The deal is separate from a bilateral Saudi-Pakistani accord announced last year
- A final consensus between the three countries is needed to complete the deal
ISLAMABAD/ISTANBUL: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye have prepared a draft defense agreement after nearly a year of talks, Pakistan’s Minister for Defense Production said, a signal they could be seeking a bulwark against a flare-up of regional violence in the last two years.
Raza Hayat Harraj told Reuters on Wednesday the potential deal between the three regional powers was separate from a bilateral Saudi-Pakistani accord announced last year. A final consensus between the three states is needed to complete the deal, he said.
“The Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Turkiye trilateral agreement is something that is already in pipeline,” Harraj said in an interview.
“The draft agreement is already available with us. The draft agreement is already with Saudi Arabia. The draft agreement is already available with Turkiye. And all three countries are deliberating. And this agreement has been there for the last 10 months.”
Asked at a press conference in Istanbul on Thursday about media reports on negotiations between the three sides, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said talks had been held but that no agreement had been signed.
Fidan pointed to a need for broader regional cooperation and trust to overcome distrust that creates “cracks and problems” that led to the emergence of external hegemonies, or wars and instability stemming from terrorism, in the region.
“At the end of all of these, we have a proposal like this: all regional nations must come together to create a cooperation platform on the issue of security,” Fidan said.
Regional issues could be resolved if relevant countries would “be sure of each other,” he added.
“At the moment, there are meetings, talks, but we have not signed any agreement. Our President (Tayyip Erdogan)’s vision is for an inclusive platform that creates wider, bigger cooperation and stability,” Fidan said, without naming Pakistan or Saudi Arabia directly.
