LAHORE, June 4: NWFP Finance Minister Ahmed Hussain Shah on Wednesday gave a new twist to the war on terror when he called for additional financial support for his province from the central government for meeting the extra expense caused by the militant insurgency in the tribal areas.

It was the NWFP which was fighting the war on terror, the minister said at a press briefing after a meeting of the provincial finance ministers. If the NWFP were not fighting the war, he said, it could spill over into Punjab and beyond it to other parts of the country.

“But this effort (to contain the militants within the NWFP) to protect Punjab and the rest of the country has put an additional burden on our meager financial resources. We must be given more resources to continue this war and prevent our youth from falling in the trap of the militants through generation of employment,” he said.