ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the federal government did not have any other option but to impose emergency and governor’s rule in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) earlier this month, blaming the provincial administration for failing to tackle rising “terrorist” attacks in the province.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari imposed emergency and governor’s rule earlier this month in KP, which was governed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party. The government citing rising militant violence and the provincial administration’s alleged failure to cooperate in counterterrorism efforts as the main reason for imposing emergency in the province.

The decision was taken as dysfunctional Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was marching toward Islamabad with thousands of Khan supporters to demand his release from prison. The federal government has taken Afridi into “protective custody” and transferred powers to run the province to Governor Faisal Karim Kundi.

“We were then left with no choice but to consider imposing governor’s rule and taking action under the relevant constitutional provisions,” Sharif told members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s parliamentary party during an event in Islamabad.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks since November 2022, when a fragile truce between the state and the Pakistani Taliban broke down. While the federal government blames the former PTI-led provincial administration for failing to tackle militancy, the opposition party rejects the allegations.

The PTI has called on the center to formulate a joint counterterror policy via consensus.

Sharif said during the past two-and-a-half years, thousands of ordinary citizens, police and military officers were killed in militant attacks in KP. He said Pakistan’s economy had suffered a “devastating blow” due to militant attacks since the early 2000s.

“Around 80,000 people were killed, and the economy suffered losses of between $150 billion and $200 billion,” Sharif said.

He blamed Khan’s PTI party for staging public demonstrations and sit-in protests since 2014, saying they hindered the government’s efforts to provide good governance to the masses.

The imposition of emergency in KP has heightened political tensions in Pakistan. The sacking of the PTI’s only provincial government is the latest blow against Khan, who has been in prison since 2023. He has been accused of inciting riots targeting military sites as well as corruption and other charges. His wife, three sisters and scores of activists are also under detention.

Khan denies the allegations and says they are politically motivated.