KP CM, Peshawar corps commander discuss security, counterterror strategy

• KP CM and Peshawar Corps Commander met last week.
• Both discussed province’s overall security situation.
• Development projects in tribal districts also discussed in meeting.
  

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Peshawar Corps Commander Lieutenant General Omer Ahmad Bukhari on Friday discussed the province’s overall security situation, according to well-placed sources.

The high-profile meeting took place at the CM's secretariat, the sources confirmed today. Counterterrorism steps, development projects in tribal districts and other matters were discussed in the meeting, the sources added.        

All stakeholders should be kept informed in efforts to ensure peace in the province, sources quoted the chief minister as saying. 

The PTI-backed chief minister also emphasised the need for a joint strategy to tackle the menace of terrorism.

The chief minister had convened a meeting of the apex committee the day after the meeting, the sources added.

Pakistan has faced increased cross-border terrorist incidents since the Taliban regime returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

KP remains the province most affected by terrorism, recording over 600 attacks in the first eight months of 2025, in which at least 79 police personnel and 138 civilians were martyred, according to a police report.

Afridi, who assumed the office of the KP CM on October 15, has strongly opposed any military operation in his province.

Last week, the KP CM vowed to safeguard the rights of tribal districts and declared that no new military operation would be allowed in the region.

“All key decisions concerning the tribal areas would be made in consultation with public representatives and tribal elders rather than behind closed doors. We want our due share and not secondhand vehicles or alms from the Centre,” he had told a Grand Khyber Jirga in his native Bara tehsil of Khyber district on Saturday.

Afridi had said a series of peace jirgas would be organised across the tribal districts, culminating in a grand Loya Jirga to discuss a joint strategy for lasting peace and development.

“The tribal people have rendered immense sacrifices for the security and integrity of Pakistan. It is now time to fulfil the promises made with them at the time of merger,” he had stated.

Afridi had reiterated that the provincial government would not permit any new military operation in the tribal belt. “In the name of operations, innocent tribesmen have been targeted. No one will be allowed to sacrifice the tribesmen. If an innocent person loses his life, there will be accountability,” he had said.