KARACHI: Former interior minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Rehman Malik on Saturday said time had come for the country’s leadership to come together and stand united against the Taliban instead of taking the dialogue route, DawnNews reported.

Malik was speaking to media representatives at the airport in Karachi which recently suffered a terrorist attack that claimed 34 lives.

The PPP leader told reporters that the attack on the airport had resulted in portraying the country in a very negative light, adding that the government should ensure increased security and better patrolling at airports across Pakistan.

Malik added that terrorist groups posed a serious threat to the state and the citizenry and that the country’s security situation was not looking up at least in the near future.

Blaming Afghan agencies for allegedly supporting terrorist groups operating inside Pakistan, Malik said a thorough investigation should be carried as to how weapons in such a heavy quantity were brought within the premises of the country’s busiest airport.

Also read: Karachi airport attack signals alarming tactical shift by Taliban

Malik’s statement comes as the PPP-led Sindh government and the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz-led federal government are engaged in a war of words over assigning responsibility in one of the most brazen attacks on a key installation in recent years.

The attack was claimed by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which carried out the attempted siege along with a number of Uzbek fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

It extinguished a nascent peace process and raised questions about how the Taliban were able to penetrate the airport serving Pakistan's economic hub.