Hundreds of protesters gathered on Sunday to denounce the most recent terrorist attacks and call for action to stop the revival of terrorists in the Swat district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The protests came amid an increase in terrorism cases in the area.
The agitators included many young people, older people, attorneys, transporters, shopkeepers, physicians, and students who hoisted banners with slogans condemning the terrorists and calling for peace in the terror-stricken valley, according to media sources.
Along with criticising the government for failing to do enough to combat terrorism and the rise in criminal activity in Pakistan, protesters also questioned why Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and elected officials were silent on the issue.
Zahid Khan, Brigadier-retired Saleem Khan, Abdul Jabbar Khan, Sher Shah Khan, Akhtar Ali, Ayub Asharey, Dr. Khalid Mahmood, Idrees Bacha, and Sardar Yousafzai were among the activists, according to media reports.
Pakistan has grown more vocal about border assaults from Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in that country, and this has led to diplomatic friction.
In an effort to find a political solution to the problem, talks between the two parties started in October 2021. A one-month truce was achieved in November as a result of the negotiations that the Afghan Taliban requested. The cease-fire could not, however, hold for long as disagreements quickly surfaced.
The TTP refuses to budge on its demand to undo the merger of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, putting an end to current peace negotiations between the TTP and the Pakistani government.
There has been no progress on the question of the TTP putting down its weapons in the event of a peace agreement, despite many negotiations between the two parties in recent weeks to end the deadlock.
