Opposition leader slams govt's counterterrorism measures

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader Khursheed Shah said Wednesday that terrorist attacks in the country had gotten worse over the years despite the opposition's cooperation with the government over counterterrorism measures.

Addressing National Assembly on Wednesday, Shah said,” They said let’s make NACTA functional. We said okay. They asked for National Action Plan. We said okay. They asked for military courts. We even cooperated on that. But despite all the cooperation, more ruthless terrorist attacks have happened.”

He said that opposition has cooperated with the government on every step in this regard. However, excuses have been made by blaming different banned outfits after every terrorist activity.

“For how much longer would we shed tears for the innocents killed during terrorist attacks? It was the responsibility of the state to provide security to its citizens”, said an emotional Khursheed Shah.

He further said that the government never took serious steps on how to stop the terrorists from carrying out their attacks.

Opposition stages walkout

Later on, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member staged a walkout from National Assembly citing Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan’s attitude.

However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spoke to Khursheed Shah and brought back opposition members to NA.