ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said on Sunday that Sohail Afridi and Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati were “in safe hands” after being placed under house arrest.

Mr Afridi has not been seen after becoming non-functional as the chief minister after the imposition of governor’s rule in KP, though a federal minister confirmed a day after the declaration of emergency that he and some of his cabinet members were in preventative custody. With no further details officially confirmed, Mr Afridi’s brother and Mr Swati’s cousin approached the Peshawar High Court separately to seek their recovery.

Asked about the whereabouts of Mr Afridi during an interview on Geo News that aired on Sunday night, Mr Kundi said the non-functional CM had been placed under house arrest and was “in safe hands — there is no need to worry”.

Governor says emergency in KP may extend ‘beyond six months’

The governor said that if there were cases against Mr Afridi, he would be indicted and action would be taken against him. Asked why he was not being released if there were no cases against him, Mr Kundi said he could provide an update on the matter the next day.

He claimed that Mr Swati was also under house arrest and would be freed if there were no charges against him.

The governor also addressed the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP, stressing that it had been the “absolute last option”.

‘Personal opinion’

Regarding the potential duration of the emergency, he said, “We will see … after six months are complete, we will talk about what will and will not happen.

“But in my opinion, maybe it will run longer,” he added, clarifying that this was a “personal opinion” and he could be wrong.

He said that the basis for saying this was that the Centre and province needed to be “on the same page” in the fight against terrorism and “streamline” efforts against it, and was making plans accordingly, which he believed would take some time.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2026