Govt reviews Swat situation, decides to assist KP in curbing terrorist activities

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Wednesday that Prime Minister’s Steering Committee on Peace reviewed the recent spate of attacks in Swat and unanimously decided to “abet the provincial government in curbing terrorist activities”.

In a Twitter post, the minister said: "Today, I presided over the meeting of the steering committee on peace where the recent terrorist attacks in KPK particularly Swat were thoroughly reviewed."

"It’s quite unfortunate that the PTI members of the committee didn’t participate in the meeting despite the invitation," he said adding: "The KP government must ensure peace in the province rather than playing petty politics in the name of a long march against the federal government.”

He was referring to PTI chairman Imran Khan’s much-anticipated long march on Islamabad.

"It was unanimously decided to abet the provincial government in curbing terrorist activities," he added.

Earlier in the day, the peace committee met under the chairmanship of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah. It was attended by MNA Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, MNA Khalid Hussain Magsi, MNA Mohsin Dawar, Advisor to Prime Minister Amir Makam, former KP governor Shaukatullah Khan and former Senator Muhammad Saleh Shah.

The meeting was called a day after a school van was targeted in Swat’s Charbagh area, which left the van driver dead and two students injured.

Students protest in Swat after school bus attack

The attack was the latest in a series of incidents of violence that have gripped the valley in recent days, prompting citizens to take to the streets against the rising tide of insurgency.

In a separate incident in a town neighbouring Mingora on Monday, two girls and a boy were wounded in cross-firing, which police said was the result of a "personal vendetta".

Pakistan's security has dramatically improved in recent years, with the military cracking down on militancy that had claimed tens of thousands of lives.