KP Speaker Swati seeks in-camera briefing on military operations from Peshawar Corps Commander
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati has requested the Peshawar Corps Commander to give an in-camera briefing on military operations being carried out in the province’s merged districts, it emerged on Monday.
In a letter dated January 8, a copy of which is available with Dawn, the speaker said that the KP Assembly had constituted a 40-member special house committee on September 8, 2025 to examine the overall security situation in KP.
Swati said that the committee comprised more than 40 members, including the leader of the house, the leader of the opposition, provincial ministers, parliamentary leaders of respective political parties and members of the KP Assembly, reflecting a “broad-based and representative forum of the house”.
The speaker said that in pursuance of the committee’s mandate, it had received detailed briefings from key stakeholders — including from the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary of the Home and Tribal Affairs Department and the provincial police chief — which was regarded as essential input for the committee “prior to the finalisation of its findings and presenting a report to the house”.
Swati said that during the second meeting of the special committee, the members further resolved to engage all political parties and relevant stakeholders across the province.
He also noted that a grand peace jirga was held on December 12, 2025, which “unanimously adopted a comprehensive declaration outlining a roadmap for long-term peace and stability in the province”. He further said that the declaration was also shared with the federal government.
“In continuation of the consultative process, the committee desires to receive a detailed briefing from Headquarters XI Corps, Peshawar, particularly in the context of the ongoing operations being conducted by the federal government and law enforcement agencies in the merged districts of KP,” he said.
“The committee acknowledges the importance of security measures, however, it considers that operations alone, without broader political, social, and developmental initiatives, might not ensure sustainable peace and stability and could risk further unrest in the province,” he said.
“In view of the sensitivity of this matter, I am further directed to request that an in-camera briefing for the special committee kindly be arranged at the KP Assembly on a mutually convenient date and time,” he said.
He said that the committee would highly appreciate the Corps Commander’s cooperation in this regard, which would assist it in discharging its constitutional responsibility.
Security sources, however, said the Corps Commander had not received any such letter and termed sending a direct communique from the office of the KP Assembly speaker a violation of official protocol.
They said that under the Constitutional and administrative framework, the provincial government lacked the authority to directly contact the Corps Commander or General Headquarters (GHQ) for any kind of formal, in-camera or institutional briefing from the military.
“In this regard, the legal and recognised procedure is that the provincial government sends the matter in writing to the federal government; the federal government forwards it to the General Headquarters through the Ministry of Defence and then formal instructions are issued from there to the relevant formation,” a security source said.
Security sources also said that by ignoring clear, established and legal procedure, the PTI government’s act of writing directly to the Corps Commander was not only a violation of Constitutional order but also a deviation from the established institutional principles of civil-military relations.
Sources said that GHQ had authorised the day-to-day liaison or routine coordination but an in-camera briefing was by no means a routine matter, adding that it required the federal government’s approval.
