Imran Khan vows to break NATO supply line if drone attacks persist

ISLAMABAD: Standing on the floor of the National Assembly, Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan Monday warned the US to halt the drone attacks or else the NATO supplies would not pass at least through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Geo News reported.

“Whenever we are close to making a headway with regard to peace talks with Taliban, the US undoes our endeavours with a drone attack”, said he addressing the House here.

He lauded Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for making sincere efforts for the peace process since the All Parties Conference (APC).

Khan said that all the political parties were on the same page with regard to talks with Taliban militants.

“That the government of Pakistan should sit down with Taliban to negotiate peace was something all political stakeholders want to happen”, Khan said.

In the same breath he also said that holding talks with the Taliban was not an easy task at all.

“Now the government and the nation have to decide which direction it wants to head”, said he.

Going forward, Khan also vowed to block NATO supply passing through Khyber Pakktunkhwa, where his party held sway.

“If the federal government does not block the NATO supplies through Pakistan until November 20, then the PTI will in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa”, Khan said.

He doubted the US drone attacks would stop even if Pakistan somehow succeeded in finding its way around the impasse the peace process ran into following TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud's killing.

"What is the guarantee that the US will let Pakistan go ahead with the peace talks without devastating them with another drone attack like the one that killed Hakimullah Mehsud and sabotaged the peace process", said Khan.

It must be noted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of two key routes Nato supplies move in and out of Afghanistan and is seen as crucial as US-led allied forces prepare to drawdown from the war-torn country in 2014.