KP CM’s aide claims displacement in KP’s Tirah amid military operation fears; govt rejects claim

The special assistant to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister for information and public relations, Shafi Jan, on Sunday said a large-scale military operation was planned in Tirah, adding that the provincial government viewed it as “unconstitutional.”

The PTI-led KP government has repeatedly opposed military operations in the province, an issue that has created friction between the party, the centre and the establishment, with the latter accusing PTI of providing sanctuary to militants.

Speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan with Shehzad Iqbal, Jan said, “We will never be part of this military operation; neither do we support it, nor have we been taken into confidence.”

Referring to the federal government’s statement that the displacement of people from Tirah was based solely on rumours, he said there were no routine intelligence-based operations in the area, but rather a large-scale military operation that was “imposed”.

He criticised that, “They [government] don’t want to curb terrorism, people have doubts about their intentions.”

“They wanted to damage KP CM Sohail Afridi’s political esteem.”

Jan further alleged that, “It is a war of narrative,” saying, “They are trying to build a new narrative.”

He reiterated that KP CM would call a Jirga on Sunday, and people would testify by themselves.

When asked about the 24-member Jirga, which agreed on the displacement from Tirah before the operation, Jan termed the signing of the agreement as “forced”.

He said that the Khyber district’s deputy commissioner signed the deal just to facilitate the people, because the government “knew that the people would be evacuated”.

“KP’s cabinet approved Rs4 billion for the people of Tirah, because we knew that they were going to be displaced.”

Jan insisted that the operation was permitted by the inspector-general Frontier Crops, Core Commander and KP’s Chief Secretary, saying that “Chief Secretary is the representative of the federal government.”

He claimed that the federal government had offered Rs17 billion for internally displaced persons, and the provincial government received this amount for three years; however, for the past three years, the KP government has received nothing.

“There are 17,000 families in total, and 12,000 of them have been registered.”

The snowfall has made the relocation really difficult,” he said.

He further mentioned that the federal government was now running from its own narrative.

“We will call the Pashtun jirga and reveal all the facts.”

‘No large-scale military operation in Tirah’

Speaking on the same platform, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal denied any large-scale military operation in Tirah, saying, “people are relocating due to the deteriorating law and order situation, which was a provincial government’s failure.”

He recalled the federal government’s statement that was only routine intelligence-based operations in Tirah to target the terrorists’ pockets.

“The PTI government is not paying attention to ensure law and order in the province,” he said. “Law and order is a provincial subject.”

He recalled that back in 2018, the federal government had terminated terrorism from KP; however, “PTI allowed terrorists to return and get settled there.”

Iqbal blamed the PTI government for shielding Fitna Al Khawarij, the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“PTI wants to give a free hand to terrorists in KP,” he said.

The planning minister said that PTI had to choose between the terrorists and Pakistan and that the party was “trying to create a rift between the state and the people.”