KP urges Centre to release funds

Bureau Report

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan Wednesday repeated accusations that the federal government withheld funds required for maintaining law and order situation in the province.
According to details, the KP chief minister made these remarks while chairing a meeting to discuss the law and order situation of the province. The meeting was attended by provincial ministers and relevant officials.
Speaking on the occasion, KP CM reiterated the provincial government’s top priority to establish peace, saying that development is not possible without maintaining peace.
He pointed out that funds were needed to make police and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) ‘more efficient’, accusing the federal government of ‘illegally’ withholding funds needed for law and order.
“The federal government was showing irresponsibility,” KP CM said, adding that the provincial government was providing necessary resources to the police and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) despite the financial difficulties.
He also lauded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police for their sacrifices for the establishment of peace, vowing that the provincial government would not let these sacrifices go in vain.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has recently reported several terror attacks in past two months, which mostly claimed lives of security personnel.
It is pertinent to mention here that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had blamed KP’s provincial government for the negligence in maintaining peace, saying that it was a failure of the provincial government that Bannu terror incident happended.
“The entire provincial government was a hostage of Imran Khan in Zaman Park,” he said. He credited the Pakistan army for the operation, adding that the provincial government had no role in it.
Following the terror incident in Bannu, KP minister Taimur Khan Jhagra rejected the allegations of federal government and said that national security is federal government’s responsibility but not the province.
Taimur Khan Jhagra said the peace situation deteriorated after the coalition parties came into power. He expressed sorrow over the ‘false statements’ of the federal government regarding the law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Bannu terror incident.