NOWSHERA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Saturday said the law-enforcement agencies had arrested most of the people involved in the Army Public School Peshawar attack, including facilitators of attackers.

The chief minister told reporters here that the scope of the attack probe had been widened to Afghanistan.

He said the killing of schoolchildren wouldn’t go to waste as it had brought all political parties and law-enforcement agencies on one page and thus, paving the way for an across-the-board crackdown on terrorism to restore peace in the country.

“All religious and political parties and federal and provincial governments are united against terrorists,” he said.

Khattak said the government was committed to fighting out terrorism in line with the recommendations of the national action plan made by the parliamentary working committee.

He said the proposed special military courts would ensure speedy action against terrorists.

The chief minister said the military courts would try TTP activists, foreign terrorists and other militants.

He said military courts had been established for two years only and that only terrorism-related cases would be heard by them.

Khattak said the cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan against militancy would help maintain peace in the region.

He said the recent visit of the army and ISI chiefs to Afghanistan had bore fruit against terrorism as the Afghan authorities had assured them of complete coordination against terrorists living in their country.

The chief minister said the army and ISI chiefs shared important information on terrorists hiding in Afghanistan with local authorities, prompting the latter to order military strikes against them, including Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah.

He said the police of the province would be given modern training, weapons and facilities.

Khattak said his government would form a 1,000-strong anti-terrorist squad, while the police’s capacity would be enhanced for better results against terrorism and crime.

He said his government’s top priority was to maintain peace in the province.

The chief minister called for early provision of funds to the UNCHR for beginning repatriation of Afghan refugees living in different parts of the country, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the government had already ordered the police to arrest unregistered Afghan refugees in the province.

Khattak demanded that the federal government establish special camps for Afghan refugees before shifting them there. He warned that those renting out their houses to unregistered Afghans would be dealt with strictly.

The chief minister also said the government would take strict action against the Nadra officials involved in issuance of fake identity cards to Afghan refugees.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2014