By DND News Agency
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has appointed Sohail Afridi as the new Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a time when the province is navigating a sensitive mix of rising tourism and renewed cross-border hostilities involving the Afghan regime. Critics warn that the administrative change coming amid massive transfers and postings across the civil administration risks undermining the province’s already fragile security posture.
While answering a question of DND News Agency regarding abrupt change of Chief Ministership in KP, senior analyst, author and journalist Dr Farooq Adil said the reshuffle distracts the civil apparatus from confronting the pressing security challenges. “Instead of strengthening police capacity and counterterrorism efforts, the provincial government appears absorbed by internal personnel changes that could weaken operational continuity at a moment when coordinated responses are needed most,”, commented Dr Farooq Adil.
Responding a question about PTI’s role to mitigated terrorism in KP, foreign affirs expert, author and writer Dr Shazia Anwer Cheema stated that PTI’s political positioning, has deepened public confusion over a parallel debate: whether illegal Afghan nationals should be repatriated or continued to be hosted. “Detractors charge that segments within PTI are promoting a narrative sympathetic to the Afghan Taliban is alienating parts of the electorate and muddying the party’s political identity,” commented Dr Cheema.
A former PTI member of the National Assembly told DND that the party’s perceived support for the Afghan Taliban is eroding PTI’s political and social standing. “The Afghan Taliban’s policies rest on hatred, brutality, violence and the denial of women’s rights, and they oppose modern education,” the ex-MP said, pointing out that PTI’s core popularity rests with educated voters — particularly women who are fundamentally at odds with those positions.
Within PTI there are voices of alarm. Some “sane elements,” as one insider described them, fear the party is pursuing a course that could lead to its political undoing. “The time has come that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will drag them on the streets with their shoes,” the insider warned, summing up a deep frustration with the party’s direction.
A senior journalist speaking to DND laid out a blistering set of questions that, he said, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi must answer in order to reassure the public and restore confidence in provincial governance and counterterrorism strategy.
The journalist framed the debate around a fundamental point: the war against terrorism cannot be fought with guns alone, but denying the role of military operations or dismissing them as wholly counterproductive is “dishonesty and an escape from reality.” He argued military action is intended to eliminate terrorist capability so that political, social and economic reforms can take root and asked why terrorism has grown in a province PTI has governed for more than a decade.
Specifically, he demanded answers on PTI’s tangible counterterrorism record:
How many CTD (Counter Terrorism Department) laboratories have been established under PTI?
How many forensic laboratories have been activated and used to bring terror cases to logical conclusions based on evidence?
What new experts, investigators or technical resources were added to enhance CTD capacity?
How many terror-crime nexus cases were registered during PTI’s tenure?
How many terrorists, facilitators or political backers were arrested?
And crucially, how many of those cases led to convictions?
These are not abstract questions, the journalist said, because the most dangerous manifestation of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today is the “nexus of terrorism and crime” a network sustained by political patronage, smuggling, extortion and money-laundering. He argued these corrupting influences grew stronger during the PTI era, and that a soft approach to violent elements enabled the resurgence of terrorism.
The journalist insisted that combating terrorism is the state’s responsibility, not only the army’s. While military operations dismantled many terrorist outfits, he said, effective counterterrorism requires competent provincial governance: properly resourced police, a strengthened CTD, relentless pursuit of facilitators and political backers, and an operational justice chain that converts arrests into convictions. When the provincial government fails to provide these, operations must be repeated, leading to renewed bloodshed.
In that light, blaming military action alone serves as a distraction from what he called “the real problem”: PTI’s poor governance, administrative incompetence and permissive posture toward violent elements. “The biggest responsibility for the bloodshed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today lies with those who weakened the system against terrorism by being in government,” he said.
As the province grapples with the human and institutional costs of renewed militancy, the journalist closed with a stark warning: the state will no longer remain silent. He said neither terrorists nor their political patrons will be spared, and the time has come for “tough decisions, a clear strategy and a united national resolve.”
Sohail Afridi’s ability to answer these pointed questions and to marshal the provincial administration toward a coherent counterterrorism and governance agenda will shape not only PTI’s future in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also the security and social trajectory of the province in the critical months ahead.
