ISLAMABAD: In a unique turn of events, bulletproof vehicles meant for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were allocated to Balochistan following Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti’s tweet to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Dawn.com reported.
The vehicles, which were to be provided to KP by the federal government, were turned down by Chief Minister Sohail Afridi earlier this week for being “defective and old”.
Subsequently, Balochistan CM Bugti also waded in, saying that like KP, his province was also affected by terrorism.
“It is an appeal to the interior minister that if the KP government is refusing to take the bulletproof vehicles, they should be transferred to the Balochistan government so that terrorism can be countered effectively,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
On Wednesday, Mr Naqvi responded to CM Bugti’s post, saying: “CM sahib, done. These bulletproof vehicles will be sent to Balochistan immediately to enhance counter-terrorism efforts. Thank you for raising this.”
Earlier this week, while chairing his first official meeting after assuming charge, KP CM Afridi had also blamed the “flawed policy” of the federal government for the resurgence of terrorism being witnessed in the province.
He had also claimed that the federal government had not provided KP the funds allocated to fight terrorism, nor “other constitutional rights”.
Responding to his comments on Tuesday, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry had said that it was unfortunate that CM Afridi was returning necessary equipment for political point-scoring.
Responding to his diatribe, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram on Wednesday took issue with the Centre’s claim of having Rs600 billion to the KP government for the fight against terror, alleging instead that the federal government owes the province a staggering Rs5 trillion, under various heads.
He maintained that the federal government owed KP Rs2tr for the merged ex-Fata districts, Rs2.5tr in net hydel profit, and Rs550bn under the Accelerated Implementation Programme (AIP).
Referring to KP’s one per cent counter-terrorism share, Mr Akram said under the 7th NFC award (2009), the province was granted an additional 1pc share from the federal divisible pool in recognition of its frontline role and extraordinary sacrifices in the national war on terrorism.
Ikram Junaidi in Islamabad also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2025