The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) confirmed on Sunday that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan held a critical meeting with Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, focusing exclusively on the escalating security crisis in the province. The disclosure ends speculation surrounding recent high-level contacts between the opposition party and the government.
PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram stated that the dialogue was urgently convened in response to a fresh wave of terrorist violence, specifically highlighting the deadly clash in Bannu. The confrontation on Saturday resulted in the martyrdom of two police personnel and two civilians, while security forces and a local peace committee eliminated militants.
Coordination and Counter-Terrorism Measures
According to Akram, the interior minister’s primary focus was on operational strategy. The discussion revolved around immediate mechanisms to curb terrorism, with a heavy emphasis on improving inter-agency coordination and rapid response measures to stabilize the law and order situation in the volatile region.
“The interior minister mostly discussed how terrorism can be controlled,” Akram detailed, adding that the conversation was strictly administrative and security-oriented. The meeting, held at Barrister Gohar’s residence according to sources, comes at a time when the province is grappling with a significant uptick in militant activity.
Denial of Political Agenda and Family Involvement
Amid swirling rumors on social media regarding the nature of the talks, both PTI officials and the KP Chief Minister moved swiftly to deny any political undertones. Chief Minister Afridi posted on X that the meeting focused on “the terrorist incidents that took place in Bannu and the province’s law and order situation, and no political discussions took place in it that are being reported.”
The party also forcefully rejected claims made by Asad Nasir on X suggesting that Aleema Khan, the sister of PTI founder Imran Khan, was present at the meeting. Aleema Khan personally refuted the allegation, stating, “Our family had no knowledge of this meeting, and neither was any family member present.”
Akram corroborated this, clarifying, “It is incorrect that Aleema Khan was part of the meeting. Only the KP CM and Barrister Gohar attended the meeting, and it was regarding terrorist attacks in KP, especially in Bannu.”
Imran Khan’s Detention and Medical Concerns
The security talks unfolded against a backdrop of ongoing friction regarding PTI founder Imran Khan’s detention. Despite an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order permitting two weekly meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays with family, lawyers, and associates, the party claims he has been denied visitors for several weeks. Furthermore, PTI continues to press for his transfer to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad following a late-January diagnosis of right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), a serious eye condition.
