LAHORE: Reiterating its opposition to the ongoing talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Awami National Party (ANP) stressed the government conduct a military operation against extremists before withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan.

The government must shun the dialogue option as it is providing the extremists a chance to reorganise and look for an appropriate time to launch an offensive against the armed forces with the help of their Afghan counterparts, senior ANP leader Ehsan Wyne said.

“The operation should be conducted before withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan so the Afghan Taliban groups could not reach out to help Pakistani militants,” he added. Otherwise, he said, the extremists would manage to engage the whole army on the western border.

Replying to a question, the ANP leader said had his party been in power in the Centre it would have gone for an operation similar to the one it got done in Swat. He said the army was in favour of the operation but the then president Asif Ali Zardari was reluctant to own the action.

Wyne criticised both state and non-state actors which, he said, were trying to save the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan believing it would help establish a “pro-Islamabad government” in Kabul in post-US Afghanistan.

“The so-called policy of strategic depth has damaged the country in the past and will do so in the future as well. Policy makers must learn now that only the policy of non-interference in internal affairs of neighbouring countries can ensure regional peace,” he added.

The ANP leader also chided the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf for passing resolutions for renaming Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and creation of a Hazara province. He alleged that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Imran Khan’s attitude was “drifting the province towards anarchy and dividing it on linguistic and racial bases”.

Regarding Begum Nasim Wali’s attempts to create a faction of the ANP, Wyne said the party respected her as the widow of Wali Khan and she too should maintain Khan’s respect by refraining from dividing the party.