CHARSADDA, Jan 17: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan on Wednesday said the army operation against suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives showed there was truth in Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s allegations that the Pakistani territory was being used as a launching pad for militant actions across the border.

Speaking at a function in Garhi Hameed Gul here, he said the ongoing operation in tribal areas would alienate the peace loving and patriotic citizens of the country.

He said tribesmen had nothing to do with terrorist activities, adding that the victory of ANP’s Shahabuddin Khan in the by-polls in Bajaur Agency showed that the tribal people believed in the non-violence philosophy of Khudai Khidmatgar Tehrik founder Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Terrorists operating in these areas were outsiders and they were supported by “some invisible hand” and that was clear to everybody now, he added.

Asfandyar Wali expressed concern over the fencing and mining of the country’s western borders, saying the border with India was gradually being opened because the ruling elite there thought that it was a right step for cultural and economic progress of the Punjab.

The irony was that the same right was being denied to the Pakhtuns who lived astride the Afghanistan Pakistan border, he said.

He demanded that the government should review its Afghan policy and base it on ground realities.

The ANP chief hoped that Afghanistan would soon come out of the conflict situation because the country had now a constitution and the first presidential polls in 30 years had been held successfully.