{"id":808,"date":"2026-05-02T15:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=808"},"modified":"2026-05-02T15:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:35:12","slug":"kp-cm-jirga-opts-for-talks-with-centre-stakeholders-over-drone-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/kp-cm-jirga-opts-for-talks-with-centre-stakeholders-over-drone-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"KP CM jirga opts for talks with Centre, stakeholders over drone attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PESHAWAR<\/strong>: A tribal gathering convened by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday decided that a jirga will be formed to hold talks with the federal government and other stakeholders on drone attacks in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past few days, CM Afridi has condemned \u201cpersistent drone attacks\u201d in KP, even hinting at introducing legislation to criminalise collateral damage in such incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, a \u201cloya (grand) jirga\u201d was held at CM House, where tribal elders had been invited to decide the future course of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a statement issued by CM House, all participants of the loya jirga demanded \u201cnegotiations with stakeholders\u201d, and therefore, it was decided to give talks \u201canother chance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was decided that a smaller jirga will be formed, which will hold talks with the federal government and other stakeholders. \u201cIf negotiations fail, a march towards Islamabad will be undertaken, and there will be no return until peace is secured,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CM House statement further said that the jirga will also \u201cstruggle for the financial and Constitutional rights\u201d promised to the tribal districts at the time of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas\u2019 (Fata) merger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Fata was merged, a promise was made to give us Rs100 billion annually. For the merged districts, this amounts to Rs800bn, of which only Rs168bn have been given,\u201d Afridi was quoted as saying, noting that if the population share of the merged districts was included, KP\u2019s share in the National Finance Commission Award would increase from 14.6 per cent to 19pc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The loss of lives of women, children and elders in drone attacks was strongly condemned during the gathering, the CM House statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CM Afridi also \u201cexpressed deep regret over the improper conduct towards jirga members at checkpoints today\u201d, stating that such an attitude was breeding hatred among the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStarting today, practical measures will be taken to prevent drone attacks,\u201d the statement announced. It noted that \u201cmiscreant elements attempted to re-enter Malakand but were rejected by the people\u201d, calling on the residents of the tribal districts to also rise for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement quoted CM Afridi as saying that \u201c22 major military operations and over 14,000 intelligence-based operations have failed to establish peace\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe failure to achieve peace despite having all the resources is alarming \u2026 if these resources were handed over to me, I guarantee peace within 100 days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The KP CM said the tribal youth were \u201cbeing pushed toward provocation so they can be targeted\u201d, adding that the people would keep up their \u201cstruggle for peace under all circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have the right to self-defence against those who do not uphold the law and the Constitution,\u201d the chief minister noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also recalled that in the first cabinet meeting chaired by him on Nov 14, 2025, a decision was made to repeal the Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation 2011, which had been extended to the entire KP in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CM Afridi claimed that \u201c970 individuals, whom they call terrorists, are being held in various detention centres without anyone\u2019s knowledge\u201d, adding that the KP government had sent letters seeking their names but \u201creceived no response\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a list of those in custody exists, a complete account of every person can be maintained,\u201d he emphasised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing a cabinet meeting on Friday, CM Afridi had expressed his intention to protest against drone attacks in his province, saying that these attacks were resulting in \u201ccollateral damage\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, CM Afridi had convened a meeting of lawmakers from the merged districts at CM House, where it was decided that the issue would be taken up in the KP Assembly. The meeting had been organised by Afridi following a drone strike in his native Khyber district, which claimed the life of a minor girl and injured six members of a family a day earlier. The family of the slain girl held a protest in Peshawar near the Hayatabad toll plaza, and were dispersed by violent police action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, at a KP Assembly session on Thursday, Afridi questioned the results of military operations during the last 20 years and hinted at legislation to curb collateral damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe held a meeting on bringing a law against drone attacks, but \u2018they\u2019 have protected themselves in the Constitution against drone attacks \u2026 However, we can legislate against collateral damage,\u201d he said, without specifying further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PESHAWAR: A tribal gathering convened by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday decided that a jirga will be formed to hold talks with the federal government and other stakeholders on drone attacks in the province. In the past few days, CM Afridi has condemned \u201cpersistent drone attacks\u201d in KP, even hinting at introducing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,7,16,2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[27],"class_list":{"0":"post-808","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-imran-khan","8":"category-latest","9":"category-national","10":"category-pakisstan"},"authors":[{"term_id":27,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"afnanwasif","display_name":"Web Desk","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbec8328241e98fefcd32e00f20f7a6b502086a0b95d395db4b1565c51681914?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":810,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808\/revisions\/810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}