As the flames of terror spread once again across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government remains alarmingly disengaged, a spectator to a tragedy it was elected to prevent.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today is at a dangerous turning point. Across the tribal belt, from Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat to Bajaur and Mohmand, terrorist groups are not just regrouping, they are launching deadly and coordinated attacks. In just one day, up to 20 soldiers were martyred in separate incidents, a chilling reminder of the return of militancy. But where is the provincial leadership?
Let’s be blunt, there is no effective government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Despite the growing violence, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur spends more time in Islamabad than in his own province. At a time when the people of KP need clear direction, firm action, and visible leadership, the CM is absent, both physically and politically. The Apex Committee, the province’s primary counterterrorism planning forum, hasn’t been convened with the frequency or urgency the security crisis demands. It should be a weekly fixture by now, not a forgotten formality.
Instead, the CM and his cabinet appear preoccupied with political theatre, even planning a symbolic cabinet meeting outside Adiala Jail to protest the incarceration of a political leader. This raises an important question, is public money meant for the safety and development of KP’s people being diverted for political spectacle?
The absence of leadership is not limited to the chief minister. The chief secretary appears disengaged, and even the Inspector General of Police, while having made commendable progress in modernizing police equipment, has remained largely invisible in these critical times.
Security, peace, and governance are the three defining challenges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On all three fronts, the provincial government is failing.
To clarify, national security and border control lie with the federal government and the military. And the armed forces have acted. Dozens of militants attempting to infiltrate from Afghanistan were neutralized in recent weeks. On May 9 and 10 alone, 73 terrorists were eliminated during cross-border attempts in KP and Balochistan.
But once these militants enter districts like Tank, Khyber, Bajaur, or Lakki Marwat, the responsibility for intelligence, policing, and civilian protection rests with the provincial government. And this is where the system breaks down. There is no coordinated counterterrorism strategy within KP. The vacuum is glaring.
We are no longer facing isolated incidents. This is an organised insurgency re-emerging in our midst, emboldened by weak provincial governance and political indifference.
While KP’s house burns, the fire is being stoked from across the border. Pakistan has repeatedly shared credible intelligence with the Afghan Taliban about terror safe havens operating in Kandahar, Kunar, Paktia, Paktika, and Nuristan. Suicide bombers are being trained there, and evidence of their movement into Pakistan has been officially shared.
So far, the Islamic Emirate has failed to act on this intelligence. That silence is being interpreted as complicity.
According to sources, a final warning is about to be delivered. Pakistan’s Special Representative, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, is expected to visit Kabul in the coming days to deliver what may be Islamabad’s last diplomatic message before changing course. If the Afghan Taliban do not act against these terror sanctuaries, Pakistan will — unilaterally and decisively.
In fact, recent intelligence-based operations in KP and Balochistan have already resulted in the elimination of 31 terrorists. Key commanders are being targeted, and more such actions are expected in the days ahead.
The problem doesn’t stop at cross-border infiltration. Pakistan is also grappling with an internal security threat, over 1.4 million undocumented Afghan nationals still reside in the country. Authorities don’t know their names, their locations, or their affiliations.
There are credible reports that after the fall of Kabul in 2021, thousands of trained Afghan security personnel went underground, many of them possibly joining the ranks of banned terror groups like the TTP. They entered Pakistan without registration or screening. Some are believed to have joined militant outfits, posing a direct threat from within.
No sovereign country in the world allows such a situation. Pakistan’s decision to repatriate undocumented migrants is both legal and necessary. Security and sovereignty cannot be compromised.
Yet the KP government, rather than supporting this policy with a clear stance, remains silent.
What has become of the grand vision once promised to the youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? A vision of peace, prosperity, and dignity?
Today, the ruling party in KP offers little more than slogans and distractions. Ministers are focused on social media spin rather than strategy. Important administrative positions are filled through sifarish, not merit, weakening state institutions at a time when they must be strengthened.
The people of KP are resilient, but their resilience is not an excuse for negligence.
They deserve a government that shows up when soldiers are martyred, that attends funerals, that meets grieving families. They deserve leaders who call strategy meetings in response to crisis, not rallies. They deserve a government that puts peace before politics.
The clock is ticking. The threat is real, not just to KP, but to Pakistan at large.
If the provincial government cannot rise to the moment, then it must step aside and let those with clarity, capacity, and courage take the lead.
Because Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cannot afford any more funerals. Not of its soldiers. Not of its people. And certainly not of its hope.
