PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday threatened to take to the streets against “persistent drone attacks” in the province, insisting that these strikes as well as military operations are causing collateral damage.

He resented civilian casualties in such attacks as a “curse”.

“We oppose and strongly condemn drone strikes in the merged tribal districts because they cause collateral damage,” Mr Afridi told a special cabinet meeting.

The chief minister insisted that drone strikes fuelled militancy and provoked sentiments of retaliation among affected communities, adversely affecting not only KP but the country as well.

Says collateral damage in such strikes is a curse

On Thursday, he had hinted at introducing legislation to criminalise collateral damage in drone strikes.

“We held a meeting on bringing a law against drone attacks but ‘they’ have protected themselves in the Constitution against drone attacks… However, we can legislate against collateral damage,” Mr Afridi told a session of the KP Assembly summoned to discuss the issue.

During the cabinet meeting, he denounced gas outages in the province as a violation of the Constitution’s Article 158, which, he said, granted provinces the first right to use their respective natural resources.

The chief minister said that KP produced 400 million cubic feet per day gas but consumed just 150MMCFD.

He added that the remaining 250MMCFDgas was supplied to the entire country but even then, KP was subjected to gas cuts.

“Our gas production will soon reach the 600MMCFD milestone due to the discovery of more natural gas reserves,” he said.

Mr Afridi accused the Centre of “constantly mistreating” KP through the denial of the due share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

He complained that Punjab had stopped wheat supply to KP.

The chief minister insisted that gas and electricity outages were spreading hatred, so there should be a halt to them.

He warned if the gas supply issue was not addressed in the next 48 hours, his PTI-led government would initiate a “coordinated protest” in consultation with other political parties.

Later, special assistant to the chief minister on information and public relations Shafi Jan later briefed the media about key decisions made in the meeting.

He said the cabinet approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Climate Action Board (Amendment) Bill, 2026,

aimed at introducing political oversight and strategic guidance for the Climate Action Board through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Climate Council.

According to him, the amendment provides for the establishment of the Emergency, Rehabilitation and Resilience Fund to support timely rehabilitation and climate-resilient reconstruction initiatives.

The cabinet also approved a special grant of Rs112.5 million for the Chief Minister’s Digital Inclusion Programme for non-Muslim students, enhancement of the seed money for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rehabilitation of Minorities (Victims of Terrorism) Endowment Fund from Rs200 million to Rs300 million.

In addition, approval was also accorded to a grant-in-aid amounting to Rs168.1 million for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Foundation, the nomination of two marriage registrars for the Bahai community under Section 3 of the Special Marriage Act, 1872, and the creation of six

posts of various cadres for the Land Use and Building Control Authority.

The cabinet okayed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Servants Housing Foundation Financial Rules, 2026, revision of service rules and regulations of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board, and re-engagement of additional categories of school leaders on a contractual basis.

It granted approval to proposals to declare the Institute of Mental Health Sciences (Fountain House) Peshawar an affiliated and constituent part of MTI Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar and the posting of the director general to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority.

Mr Jan said the cabinet sanctioned an additional grant of Rs180 million for upgrading the Miangul Abdul Haq Jahanzeb Kidney Hospital Swat into a specialised kidney transplant centre.

“The upgrade will enable the facility to provide advanced equipment and enhanced clinical services, ensuring local treatment facilities for patients and improving access to specialised kidney transplant care in the region,” he said.

The cabinet also approved the introduction of digital reforms and online civil registration of vital statistics services to people, including registration and certification of births, deaths, marriages, divorces and dissolution of marriages.

Regarding food security, the CM’s special assistant said the provincial cabinet approved procurement of 225,000 metric tons of wheat from public sector growers at the rate of Rs3,500 per 40kg, involving a financial implication of Rs19.68 billion.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2026