Asif, Tarar fire fresh salvoes at PTI after talks deadlock

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday fired fresh salvoes at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over the failure of government-opposition talks, accusing the party of adopting double standards on terrorism and using calls for consultation as a delaying tactic. The exchange followed marathon government-opposition talks over PTI’s planned long march, which ended in deadlock in the early hours of Sunday. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had said the PTI-TTAP side wanted counter-terrorism measures in K-P to be agreed jointly by the federal and provincial governments after consultation with political parties and other stakeholders. The breakdown in negotiations produced competing accounts from the government and opposition over what had prevented an agreement, with the main disagreement centred on counter-terrorism policy in K-P. Responding to Afridi’s post on X, in which the CM Afridi said the talks had failed because the government had not agreed to jointly formulate a counter-terrorism policy for K-P with the provincial government and other political stakeholders, Tarar said PTI’s position on consultation had “outlived its life in the past three years”. “PTI’s lame old excuse that all parties should have been consulted has outlived its life in the past three years,” Tarar said. “Federal government did exactly that but you never responded to our proposals.” He said the K-P government had only recently begun responding to federal calls for a joint mechanism to fight terrorism because it was “politically weak” and accused it of doing so to protect its political standing in the province. Lets be honest and put things in perspective regarding the talks and the stance taken by your party: 1. PTI’s lame old excuse that all parties should have been consulted has outlived its life in the past three years, Federal government did exactly that but you never responded to… https://t.co/fdc1HqNbJO — Attaullah Tarar (@TararAttaullah) October 4, 2026 “Double standards and hypocrisy seem to be your policy; when you say that the PTI K-P government has been taking steps to fight terrorism and is serious in this matter,” Tarar said. “On the contrary, your narrative on terrorism is in favour of terrorists. K-P government's policy only encourages and supports the spread of terrorism in the province,” he added. Tarar then questioned why the K-P government had not participated in federal Apex Committee meetings or, “Why doesn't the K-P Government hold its own Apex committee meetings to review terrorism like other provinces hold their meetings?” He also questioned why the chief minister and his cabinet had not condemned the interim Afghan Taliban government over its support for terrorism in Pakistan. “Has the K-P government ever shown any outright support to the valiant Armed Forces and the police who have laid down thousands of lives fighting terrorism in K-P?” he said. Tarar also questioned why the provincial government had not fully implemented the National Action Plan (NAP), particularly measures concerning illegal activities, undocumented Afghan nationals and strengthening the capacity of the police and Counter Terrorism Department. He also challenged PTI leaders to explain their absence from the funerals of security personnel killed in the fight against terrorism and their lack of visits to security and police posts. He further questioned how often the K-P leadership had visited the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas and "took interest in their governance and development issues?” Read: PTI begins first phase of long march amid mounting political tensions “Once the Afghan Taliban regime in support of terrorism in K-P sends drones and tashkeels, why do you keep quiet?” he asked. “How many times have you stood shoulder to shoulder with our valiant FC soldiers standing guard on the Pak-Afghan border against these terrorists?” “Please give some answers before ranting confusion and useless rhetoric only,” he said. “This is an old strategy of PTI that when under pressure, they start talking of consultations and joint actions but on the ground they do the exact opposite,” he said. He also blamed the K-P government for the worsening security and economic situation in the province, saying the alleged failure to implement the NAP had allowed terrorism to flourish. He rejected Afridi’s call for collective consultation and described it as a delaying tactic. “So stop selling this false narrative of collective consultations, jirgas or any other method as this means nothing on the ground other than delaying tactics,” he said. Tarar ended his post with a warning to the PTI-led provincial government. “This time the State won’t let you embroil and confuse people by your old age rhetoric and verbosity that has already brought KPK to the brink of collapse,” he said. “No More!!!!” In a post on X, the defence minister questioned PTI leaders who, he said, spoke about innocent victims in the province but did not visit the families of civilians killed in terrorist attacks. “You talk about the innocent martyrs of your province, but leave aside the military martyrs — you are even refusing to take ownership of the civilian martyrs. Tell us, have you gone to the home of even a single civilian martyr to offer condolences?” Asif accused PTI founder Imran Khan of bringing terrorism to K-P and supporting the settlement of terrorists in the province, saying the party's speeches in the provincial assembly and its media record were evidence of this. “This terrorism was brought to K-P by their leader Imran. He was the biggest supporter of settling them in K-P. The record of assembly speeches and the media bears witness to this.” He challenged PTI leaders to debate the issue with him on television. Asif also accused successive K-P chief ministers of attacking the federal government after PTI lost power at the Centre, while separately referring to the May 9 events. “The entire K-P leadership itself loots government resources and also gives a share to terrorists in the form of extortion,” he said. “You are partners of the terrorists. Your hands are also stained with the blood that is being shed in K-P. The nation will hold you accountable, and so will God.” اپنے صوبے کے جن معصوم شہیدوں کی آپ بات کر رہے ھیں فوجی شہداء کی بات رہنے دیں آپ شہری شہداء کی اونر شپ لینے سے بھی انکاری ھیں۔ ذرا بتائیں کسی ایک سولین شہید کے گھر بھی فاتحہ کے لئیے گئے ھیں ۔ یہ دھشت گردی انکا لیڈر عمران خان پختونخواہ میں لیکر آیا وہ انکو اس KP میں بسانے کا سب… https://t.co/lLqRHqwRa8 — Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) October 4, 2026 Asif also described Islamabad as a symbol of the country's unity and the federation, saying it represented the identity of 250 million Pakistanis. He said the country's martyrs had sacrificed their lives for Pakistan and praised the resolve of the people and armed forces to confront internal and external threats. Asif ended his post by expressing confidence in Pakistan's future. “God willing, Pakistan will always remain alive,” he said. Earlier, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also accused the K-P government of backing out of security-related commitments during the final phase of negotiations. He said the provincial government had agreed to submit a 72-hour implementation plan covering counter-terrorism measures, the NAP, cooperation with the armed forces and other security issues. Afridi subsequently maintained that PTI’s seven-point demands were constitutional and legal and said the long march would proceed after the talks failed to produce an agreement. Conflicting accounts over talks breakdown PTI leader Salman Akram Raja similarly said the opposition had insisted that counter-terrorism measures be based on an agreement between the two governments and have the “buy-in” of political parties represented in the provincial assembly. Raja said the PTI-TTAP team had “stood firm on its principled position” that anti-terrorism actions in KP should be agreed between the federal and provincial governments and that policies aimed at fighting terrorism “must have the support of the local population and be based on ground intelligence”. The government, however, gave a different account of the negotiations. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the KP government had agreed to sign a written agreement and submit an implementation plan within 72 hours covering a series of security measures, but had backed out during the final phase of the talks. Read more: Deadlock persists as hours-long govt, PTI talks end without breakthrough Naqvi said the commitments included reconsidering the Police Act 2026, preventing terrorists from operating freely or finding safe havens in the province, condemning the TTP and other terrorist groups, supporting the national policy on Afghan refugees, increasing funding for counter-terrorism operations and police, strengthening cooperation with the armed forces and implementing the NAP. “Last night, during the final phase of negotiations, the K-P Government backed out of these commitments,” Naqvi said. “Security must not be politicised while the province is at War.” The opposition disputed that account. Raja said the government team had insisted that actions initiated unilaterally by the federal government would have to be “owned by the provincial government”, which the PTI-TTAP team had rejected. The disagreement followed two days of negotiations over PTI’s planned long march. The talks, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, had initially focused on the party’s demands, including political dialogue, legal and medical rights for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, relief for prisoners and a jointly formulated strategy to address terrorism in KP. The opposition also maintained that a meeting with Imran Khan was necessary before the march could be called off, with Haleem Adil Sheikh later saying the government had also rejected an alternative request for Senate opposition leader Raja Nasir Abbas to meet the PTI founder. With neither side willing to concede on the key issues, the negotiations ended in the early hours of Sunday without an agreement. PTI subsequently maintained that the long march would go ahead, with Afridi announcing that it would begin from K-P on Sunday afternoon.

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