ISLAMABAD: Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday said internal as well as external factors like poor governance and lack of reforms in merged districts had led to the rise of militancy in the province.

“Internal as well as external factors like poor governance, administrative vacuum, weak implementation of merged districts’ reforms, illegal crime spectrum and geopolitical wrangling are the major reasons that were sustaining militancy in the province,” Mr Kundi said while speaking at a function organised by Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).

He said a unified national response, eschewing political expediencies was the recommended strategy to counter the menace of terrorism in KP.

Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, adviser to the KP chief minister, pointed out that political schisms had allowed space for the extremist narrative.

Journalist Saleem Safi said media blackout in merged districts hamstrung own media from countering the extremists’ propaganda and recommended that the state should disseminate the correct narrative for own media to give it maximum traction.

Retired Lt General Hasan Azhar Hayat recommended a multipronged approach allowing all components of the state to contribute in their own domain rather than saddling one component of the state with all responsibilities in militancy-hit areas. He also recommended deweaponisation in Kurram and land reforms that would require strong resolve of the federal as well as provincial governments.

The engagement of Afghan interim government and creation of stakes in peace across the Pak-Afghan border need to be accorded top priority. The share of merged areas as per NFC should be allocated as per the constitution and the locals of merged districts should be involved in the development initiatives and future counter terrorism strategies.

Ambassador Sadiq, special representative of Pakistan on Afghanistan, impressed the need for a firm Afghan policy and a sustainable diplomatic initiative with the Taliban regime.

Chief Khateeb of Masjid Mahabat Khan in Peshawar Maulana Tayyab spoke on the need for proper rebuttal of extremist narratives through dissemination of the moderate and true message of Islam. Ministries of religious affairs at federal and provincial levels should be more proactive to defend the state against the negative propaganda of Fitnaul Khawarij.

Inspector General of Police KP Zulfiqar Hameed gave a presentation on the policing and counterterrorism challenges in the province, especially merged districts. He said incidents of terrorism were on the rise for the last five years and if not arrested the tally would exceed the highest figures in last 20 years. The low conviction rates and poor policing infrastructure have also not helped the matters. Total cases registered were 6428 whereas the convictions through courts were 345 - 17 percent.

There are serious capacity issues to address IEDs and other threats besides weak integration of Khassadars in regular police after merger. The declining trend in police’s operational budget is also not helping the matters, he added.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2025