Peshawar: The deteriorating security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has brought renewed scrutiny of the provincial government’s counterterrorism policy, with security analysts and political observers questioning whether the PTI-led administration has articulated a sufficiently clear, consistent and coordinated strategy to confront the province’s evolving security challenges.
For a province that has endured decades of militant violence, cross border terrorists attacks and paid an enormous human and economic price, ambiguity over counterterrorism policy carries grave consequences that extend far beyond political rhetoric.
The central question confronting the PTI government is no longer simply what it says about terrorism, but how its stated position translates into practical measures to protect its citizens, strengthen law-enforcement institutions, police, counter terrorism department and improve coordination with federal security and intelligence agencies.
Security experts have repeatedly stressed that counterterrorism requires institutional coherence, continuity and close coordination among political leadership, police, intelligence agencies and other relevant state institutions.
Mixed signals or shifting political positions, they argued, can complicate public confidence at a time when the security environment remains highly sensitive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks in Kohat and DI Khan.
Former Inspector General of Police Syed Akhtar Ali Shah said a counterterrorism policy could not remain confined to aggressive political statements and blamed others.
A good anti terrorism policy must be reflected in policing, intelligence coordination, prosecution, protection of vulnerable communities and sustained political support for security institutions.
He said the KP government faced a difficult balancing act of protecting fundamental rights and maintaining political legitimacy on one hand while firmly supporting the state’s responsibility to prevent militant violence and counterterrorism on others.
‘Every terrorism incident affects far more than the immediate victims in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,’ he said, adding that repeated terrorists attacks disrupted education, business, investment, tourism and ordinary economic activity in KP.
He maintained that prolonged insecurity also deepened public anxiety and could undermine public confidence in the PTI government’s ability to provide basic security.
Akhtar Ali Shah said political confrontation and provocate speeches should not overshadow what he described as the province’s most urgent governance challenge of restoring and maintaining public safety.
He stressed the need for the provincial government to articulate a clear position on terrorism and explain how its policy would operate in practical terms.
‘A credible counterterrorism framework requires clearly defined priorities, institutional coordination and measurable objectives,’ he said, adding that regular communication with the public was also essential so citizens could understand what the government was doing, which institutions were responsible for security and how progress was being assessed.
The former IGP KP urged the PTI-led provincial government to engage with the federal government and extend institutional support to counterterrorism IBO operations being conducted by security forces, police and intelligence agencies in KP.
‘Effective security policy depends heavily on consistent political support to law enforcement agencies and effective coordination between Federal and Provincial governments institutions rather than isolated political positions or separate anti terrorism policies,’ he said.
Professor Dr A.H. Hilali said political statements by the chief executive of a terrorism-affected province carried considerable weight and it should contribute to strengthening public morale and confidence against terrorism.
‘When the chief minister of a terrorism-affected province speaks about security, his words can influence public confidence, relations among institutions and perceptions of the government’s priorities,’ he said.
He said political differences were a normal feature of democratic politics, but counterterrorism required clarity because ambiguity could have serious consequences for all sectors of life.
The provincial government, he added, needed to distinguish between political disagreements and the broader security interests of the province.
‘Counterterrorism should not become another arena for party confrontation,’ Dr Hilali said, stressing that the ultimate cost of prolonged political polarization was borne by ordinary citizens.
He said KP Govt should focus on security situation in KP imperative to bring foreign investment and lets courts should decide cases of the PTI founder.
The experts said that had Rs2,347 billion transferred by Federal Govt to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award during the two fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26 utalized properly the province would have been deoloped today.
He said KP had received Rs1,103 billion during FY2024-25 and Rs1,244 billion during FY2025-26, bringing the combined transfers to Rs2,347 billion.
Under the existing NFC arrangement, KP also receives an additional one per cent of the divisible pool for expenditure related to the war against terrorism.
The provincial shares were transferred from tax revenues under the NFC formula. They explained that 57.5 per cent of Federal Board of Revenue tax collection is distributed among the provinces according to the agreed formula, while the remaining 42.5 per cent goes to the federal government.
Dr Hilalii said Pakistan is currently operating under the seventh NFC Award, under which KP receives 14.62 per cent of the provincial share under the horizontal distribution formula.
The scale of federal transfers and the additional terrorism-related allocation underline the substantial financial and institutional dimensions of the security challenge confronting the province.
Against this backdrop, he questioned over the clarity of the provincial government’s counterterrorism policy.
For KP, he said, peace was not an abstract political slogan but a prerequisite for economic prosperity and development.
The province’s economic, tourism and investment potential, he added, could not be fully realized without a predictable security environment.
Businesses require stability, families need safe communities, and young people look for educational and economic opportunities capable of competing with the forces of violence and extremism, he said.
The CM Afridi administration faces a defining governance challenge whether it can move beyond political rhetoric and present a transparent, coherent and institutionally coordinated strategy for confronting terrorism while maintaining effective cooperation with federal institutions and security agencies or plunge the province to anarchy and chaos.
The experts stressed that the people of KP deserve clarity about how the provincial government intends to protect citizens, strengthen policing, improve intelligence coordination and respond to an evolving security threat.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of any counterterrorism policy will be judged not by the intensity of political speeches by PTI leaders but by tangible outcomes whether ordinary people can live, work, travel, conduct business and send their children to school without fear.
For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the human and economic costs of terrorism have already been immense, the margin for prolonged uncertainty over KP anti terrorism is narrowing.
The experts said what the province needs is a clear counter terrorism policy, support to security agencies, sustained coordination with Federal Government and measurable action to eradicate terrorism and restore public confidence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.