Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has defended the federal government’s decision to impose an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), describing it as a difficult step taken after other options had been exhausted. Addressing a seminar in Islamabad, Dar said the government had been left with no alternative but to introduce emergency measures. He also criticised protests and sit-ins, saying they had caused significant damage to the national economy. Dar identified terrorism as one of the biggest challenges facing Pakistan and the wider region. He said the country had made enormous sacrifices in the fight against militancy and had confronted the threat with courage, determination and resilience. He said the prolonged conflict had inflicted severe economic losses on Pakistan and stressed that the country’s sacrifices deserved international recognition. Dar referred to tragic incidents, including the Jaffar Express attack and the abduction and killing of workers in Balochistan, as examples of the human cost of terrorism. Karachi Politics Saeed Ghani blames ethnic divisions for city’s decline since 1980s He said the government, under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was pursuing a new strategy to eliminate militancy, while law enforcement agencies continued operations to counter the threat. The deputy prime minister said Pakistan had sacrificed more than 90,000 lives in the war against terrorism, underscoring the scale of the losses suffered by the country. He also praised Field Marshal Asim Munir for his commitment to eliminating terrorism, saying operations against militants were being conducted daily under his instructions. Dar called on the Afghan authorities to prevent their territory from being used for attacks against Pakistan. He recalled a trilateral meeting involving Pakistan, China and Afghanistan in Kabul in August 2025, saying Afghan authorities had regrettably failed to fulfil their commitments regarding counterterrorism. He warned that the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups operating from Afghanistan posed a threat to regional peace and security. According to Dar, militants were crossing the border to attack Pakistani security personnel and civilians. He said Pakistan had installed a security fence along the Afghan border and provided extensive humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. The foreign minister maintained that Pakistan had made sincere efforts to promote regional peace and stability and that these efforts should not be overlooked. His remarks come amid heightened tensions between the federal government and the K-P administration over security policy and the introduction of emergency measures in the province. The government has defended its decision on security grounds, while the move has intensified the political dispute between Islamabad and the provincial leadership. Post navigation Karachi Politics Saeed Ghani blames ethnic divisions for city’s decline since 1980s
