PESHAWAR: The administration of Pakistan’s militancy-hit northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Saturday called for government-level negotiations with Afghanistan, announcing that it would constitute a jirga, or a traditional tribal council, to engage with authorities in Kabul, according to an official statement.

The statement followed a consultative meeting convened by the KP administration under the title “National Unity Against Terrorism,” bringing together representatives from various religious and political parties. The discussions come amid a sharp rise in militancy in the region, including suicide bombings, attacks on civilians and security forces and kidnappings of local businessmen and government functionaries.

Pakistan’s top military and political leadership has blamed the surge in violence on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants launching cross-border attacks from Afghanistan, accusing Kabul’s administration of harboring and facilitating them, though the allegation is denied by the Afghan authorities.

The country’s security forces have also conducted intelligence-based operations against militant hideouts in KP and has reportedly launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan to target TTP militants. However, the consultative session in KP called for a more peaceful approach, seeking the government to engage in constructive talks with Afghan authorities.

“The security situation in our province is directly linked to developments in neighboring Afghanistan,” Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur said, according to an official statement circulated after the meeting.

“To find a lasting solution to the issue of terrorism in the country, there is a need for government-level negotiations with Afghanistan,” he added.

“A jirga will be formed to hold meaningful and result-oriented negotiations with Afghanistan,” Gandapur said, referring to the traditional tribal assembly system used for conflict resolution and decision-making in Pashtun-majority areas.

KP’s administration is run by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which has historically advocated negotiations with TTP to resolve militant violence.

The federal government in Islamabad, however, argues that past talks with militants only allowed them to regroup and launch more deadly attacks against Pakistan’s security interests.

Islamabad has repeatedly pressed Kabul to eliminate TTP sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, while the Afghan Taliban have called for dialogue instead of military action.