PESHAWAR: Members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday condemned the purported drone strike in Katlang area of Mardan district, which claimed nine lives, and called for a judicial probe into it.

During a session chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati here, the lawmakers also demanded the formation of a house committee to look into the incident and said the chief secretary and provincial police chief should be called in to inform them about who carried out the security operation.

Adviser to the chief minister on prisons Humayun Khan said that the people, who were killed in the alleged Katlang drone strike, belonged to the Gujjar tribe and had rented the area after completing all formalities, including registration with police.

Say chief secretary, police chief should brief them about security operation

He said that the tribesmen had signed an agreement with landowners against the payment of Rs0.5 million.

“A judicial inquiry should be carried out in the Shamozao incident and all those held responsible should be brought to justice,” he said.

MPA Iftikhar Ali Mashwani, who belongs to Mardan, said senior government officials were unaware of the reported drone strike.

“For how long will we have to condemn such incidents? The security forces have yet to issue any statement on the number of terrorists killed in the strike,” he said.

MPA Zarshad Khan, who was elected from the same area, said the Gujjar tribe visited those areas in winters and they were scheduled to return after expiry of the contract which they had signed for six months.

“During the protest, authorities admitted that it was a mistake, but they later insisted on social media that those killed were terrorists,” he claimed. The lawmaker insisted that those nine people were “innocent.”

Arbab Usman from the opposition ANP said the treasury benches called for unity in the house but never called a multi-party conference.

He complained that 1,300 people were martyred in 2024 alone but the government never raised questions about those deaths.

PML-N lawmaker Shahjahan Yousaf said SSP Ijaz Khan was martyred in the same area and the area remained a terrorist hub.

He said that the PTI, which had been ruling KP for 12 years, was responsible for the upsurge in terrorist attacks in the province as its government brought terrorists back from Afghanistan. Mr Yousaf added that the PTI should accept responsibility for it.

The opposition member invited colleagues from the treasury to sit with the representatives of the federal government for the sake of peace in the province.

During the sitting, the treasury and opposition strongly opposed the KP Mines and Minerals Bill 2025, calling it a conspiracy against the province’s minerals. He urged the law minister not to table the bill in the house.

Shakil Khan from the treasury benches said that the bill was shared in the “additional” agenda.

He said the Special Investment Facilitation Council was made by a prime minister, who got elected on Form-47.

The lawmaker said SIFC comprised several members including the president, prime minister, interior, finance and foreign ministers, judges of the Supreme Court and military generals and was meant for facilitation of direct investment in the country.

He wondered how foreigners could invest in a country where the SIFC members had properties and investment abroad.

Mr Khan alleged that the military establishment was a major shareholder in SIFC, with five companies made by it for mines and minerals, agriculture, tourism, oil and gas sectors.

He said the data of direct investment made in the last two years should be made public.

“I request the law minister not to table the bill. If we make this mistake on someone’s behalf, our future generations will never forgive us,” he said, requesting the provincial government to disown SIFC.

JUI-F member Adnan Khan said KP was facing terrorism but the province’s resources were being handed over to the military.

“We will never allow anyone to take over our resources,” he said, opposing the proposed law.

The chief minister’s special assistant for communication and works, Sohail Afridi, said the bill thoroughly discussed “strategic minerals.”

MPA Riaz Khan said a registered organisation, Frontier Mines Owners Association, which was established in 1986, claimed in that presser that it was not taken on board on the matter. He said stakeholders should be properly engaged on such issues.

Later, law minister Aftab Alam Afridi tabled the KP Mines and Minerals Bill, 2025, the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and Judicial Officers Welfare Fund Bill, 2025.The chair adjourned the sitting until 2pm on April 7.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2025