PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter on Tuesday demanded of the government to probe the killings of around two dozen civilian people in Tirah area of Khyber tribal district to punish perpetrators.

The demand was made in a news conference by PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar and central leader MNA Asad Qaiser. Other party leaders were also present.

Mr Akbar condemned the Tirah killings, saying the party’s leadership stood with the aggrieved families.

“The repeated occurrence of such incidents will further public hatred against state institutions and drive people further away from them,” he said.

The lawmaker said there was no room for or precedence of such “heinous incidents” in the world.

He said the PTI had long insisted that military operations were no solution to the longstanding issue of terrorism, so political dialogue among all stakeholders should be encouraged.

“The power to decide such issues should not be with a single institution or individual,” he said.

Mr Akbar said that PTI has never favoured terrorist activities and instead, condemned all such incidents.

“We condemn the act of terrorists who forcefully implement their agenda on the state and people,” he said.

The PTI leader said the warriors were brought to Pakistan from across the world in the 1980s to fight in Afghanistan along with residents.

He said the military and religious leaders who were involved in the “Afghan jihad” earned billions of rupees and their children were currently benefiting from that wealth.

“We [PTI] own the decision during our government in the centre to bring back terrorists for reconciliation. However, only we can’t be blamed for it as it’s a decision involving the then military leadership as well,” he said.

Mr Akbar said that PTI has been advocating for talks with terrorists as the repeated military operations against them didn’t bear fruit.

He said that if Pakistan flayed Afghanistan for hosting terrorists, who carried out attacks on Pakistani soil, then why those terrorists didn’t go to other countries bordering Afghanistan.

“Pakistan should not blame other countries for its inefficiencies and instead, it should sincerely address its own weakness,” he said.

The PTI leader said that those at the helm of affairs should involve the leadership of all political parties while taking vital national decisions.

He said that if dialogue with terrorists didn’t work, military operations should be launched against them with precision to prevent collateral damage.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2025