PESHAWAR, Nov 8: Awami National Party leader Asfandyar Wali Khan has condemned the Dargai suicide attack and expressed concerned that the wave of militancy and terrorism was now spilling over to the settled parts of the province.

In a statement on Wednesday, he expressed sympathies with families of the victims and appealed to all segments of society to join forces to stem the tide of terrorism in the country.

He said that his party had been repeatedly saying that intervention in Afghanistan's affairs would have disastrous consequences for the people of Pakistan but, he said, that all such requests had fallen on deaf ears and now terrorism was spreading from tribal areas to the settled parts of the Frontier province. The attack on the army training centre in Malakand Agency had increased the responsibilities of all political parties as well as the people, he said, adding that the ANP could not sit idle under such a situation.

He said that the ANP had convened a peace jirga on November 20 in Peshawar wherein all political parties had been invited to discuss a solution to the problem and asked the political leaders to shun their differences for the sake of peace in the country.

Mr Khan said that the government should also review its policies which were encouraging militancy in the country.

He said that the Pakhtuns were being targeted on both sides of the Durand Line and there was an urgent need for the political leaders to sit together and solve this growing problem.