PESHAWAR: The federal minister for interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Thursday that the government still prefers dialogue with the Taliban to restore peace in the country, but will counter terrorism side-by-side.
“Peace will be restored in the country at all costs,” the interior minister told a news conference in Peshawar on Thursday.
The interior minister said that no military operation is underway in the tribal areas. However, he said‚ surgical air strikes against militants’ hideouts are being carried out under the new security policy.
Nisar said that the security forces will target the hideouts from where the terrorist activities would originate.
The minister said that an institutional mechanism will be evolved under the new security policy wherein the provinces could share intelligence with the federal government on daily basis. He said that 65 IEDs and bomb detection vehicles are being imported for rapid response force, adding that eight out of them will be handed over to the provinces.
Moreover, he said that the federal government has decided to lift ban on recruitment into the Frontier Crops (FC). He said that 3,000 personnel will soon be recruited in the FC.
On this occasion‚ Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak supported the federal government in its efforts to bring peace and stability to the country.
