ISLAMABAD: The government told the National Assembly on Tuesday an anti-militant operation would be carried out around the North West Frontier Province capital Peshawar within a week as several members said the province was slipping out of control.

But the prime minister’s Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said the situation “around Peshawar” was not as critical as being projected in the wake of activities of militants, including a recent kidnapping of a group of Christians, and added that the government was “not sleeping” over the matter. Interrupting the house proceedings on a private members’ day at the end of the budget session, he said some action would be seen within a week. “That action is not far off.”—Our Reporter