MARDAN, July 23: The Awami National Party provincial president, Afrasiab Khattak, has said that the only way out from the country’s present crisis is that the armed forces should go back to their barracks and stop interfering in political affairs.

Addressing a district convention of ANP at Mian Issa village here on Monday, he said that the Pukhtun nation was facing many challenges in the present situation of the country, which could only be countered with unity in their ranks.

He said the Pukhtuns had contributed a lot to the independence of Pakistan, but later under a conspiracy they were deprived of this honour and rights.

He said that two million Pukhtuns were killed in the Afghan war and now the US was again conspiring against them in the name of war against terror.

Afrasiab said that the armed forces should go back to their barracks and leave the country’s affairs to the political parties.

ANP provincial General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain also spoke on the occasion and urged the Pukhtuns to foil the conspiracies which were aimed at harming them as a nation.

He said that the tribal agencies and various districts of the province were made a war zone in the name of terrorism and militant activities in these areas.

The convention unanimously passed resolutions, which condemned the killings of Pukhtun students in the ‘Operation Silence’ at the Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa complex and demanded compensation to their relatives.

The convention demanded halt to military operations in various areas, particularly in the tribal agencies and asked for withdrawal of armed forces from Malakand Agency and Swat.