ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Tuesday said it appears as if a conspiracy is being hatched to detach North Waziristan from the country and vowed to bring the matter to Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif’s notice, DawnNews reported.

Briefing the media after attending a meeting of the party’s core committee here, he said that he will meet with the army chief and appeal to him to stop the military offensive in North Waziristan.

The PTI chief said he witnessed similar situation in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the military operation before it was detached from rest of the country in 1971.

The cricketer-turned-politician claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had failed in negotiating with Taliban.

Reiterating his stance on alleged rigging in the May 11 poll, Khan said the government was scared of verifying thumb impressions in four constituencies where his party pointed out alleged rigging took place.

He also alleged that Punjab government used its ‘machinery’ to rig the recently held by-poll in the province.

The PTI chairman assailed the government for recent hike in electricity prices, saying the hike during the five-year rule of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has been superseded by the prevailing government in just one year.

“It feels as if the PML-N government is not afraid of anyone,” said Khan while mentioning 14 foreign trips of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif since assuming power last year. Despite all these trips, the government has failed to bring any foreign investment in the country, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said that his province was being treated like an ‘orphan’. He complained about non-issuance of development funds by Islamabad and its noncooperation on the matters relating to power, water and wheat.