Terror to rise in Pakistan if ties with Kabul sour: Khan

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Terrorism will escalate in Pakistan if it does not improve relations with Afghanistan, warns former prime minister Imran Khan.

He hit out at warnings from some federal ministers of striking alleged hideouts of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) in Afghanistan.

Addressing a seminar organised by his party on Tuesday in Islamabad on the recent spike in terrorism in Pakistan, he cautioned against risks of destabilisation in Afghanistan.

His government, which was ousted last year as a result of a no-confidence vote, planned to resettle TTP militants in Pakistan’s tribal region.

The PTI chairman said that the gov­­e­r­n­ment had planned to relocate at least 5,000 TTP fighters and their family members which amount to about 35,000. But the plan did not materialise as provinces refused to foot the bill, he added.

The caretaker government’s rise to power in Afghanistan offered Pakistan a golden opportunity to address the TTP threat, the PTI chairman remarked, saying the new Afghan rulers were pressurising the group to leave the war-torn country.

“If we cannot continue good relations with Afghanistan, the new war on terror will become a curse for us,” the former premier feared, urging Islamabad to revisit its partnership with the United States.

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