‘Gandapur was smart, else Opp would have got more Senate seats’
ISLAMABAD: Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of Ali Amin Gandapur acted sensibly, otherwise, the opposition parties would have secured more seats in the recent Senate elections.
The comments came as Kundi appreciated the fact that the PTI’s provincial government and the opposition reached an understanding on contesting the Senate polls jointly.
He was addressing a ceremony organised under the “Youth Engagement and Resilience Initiative” in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, Kundi praised the Gandapur government for its political wisdom after two anti-terrorism courts in Punjab on Tuesday convicted multiple PTI leaders in cases related to the May 9 attacks.
RISING EXTREMISM
On the other hand, the governor also mentioned that extremism was again on the rise in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan — the two western provinces of Pakistan, witnessing an alarming increase in terrorism acts.
Kundi has previously warned repeatedly about the presence of terrorists, especially in southern Pakhtunkhwa, where, according to the governor, the provincial government has failed miserably to tackle the challenge.
That is the reason why security forces and law enforcement agencies have intensified intelligence-based operations in the province.
SOPHISTICATED TERRORISTS
Earlier this week, Reuters reported, while quoting police, that the terrorists (Khawarij) have started using commercially acquired quadcopter drones to drop bombs on security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The use of such drones, which are powered by four rotors allowing for vertical take-off and landing, is worrying the overstretched and under-equipped police force, the frontline against militant attacks, officials said.
Two quadcopters sent by the militants targeted a police station earlier this month, killing a woman and injuring three children in a nearby house in Bannu district, said police officer Muhammad Anwar.
At least eight such drone attacks have targeted police and security forces in Bannu and adjacent areas in the last two and a half months, he said.
However, Regional police chief Sajjad Khan said militants were still trying to master the use of the drones.
“The militants have acquired these modern tools, but they are in the process of experimentation and that’s why they can’t hit their targets accurately,” he added.
LACK OF RESOURCES
Meanwhile, the militants are using the quadcopters to drop improvised explosive devices or mortar shells on their targets, five security officials said. They said these explosive devices were packed with ball bearings or pieces of iron.
Provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed said the police lacked resources to meet the new challenge.
“We do not have equipment to counter the drones,” he said. “The militants are better equipped than we are,” he said.
Meanwhile, no militant group has claimed responsibility for the drone strikes.
The main militant group operating in the northwest is the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. But they denied using the drones.
“We are trying to acquire this technology,” a TTP spokesman told Reuters.
In 2024, the terrorists carried out 335 countrywide attacks, killing 520 people, according to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an independent organisation.