Interior minister says KP government reneged on counterterrorism deal
Mohsin Naqvi said provincial authorities agreed to sign an implementation plan within 72 hours during weekend talks but then backtracked.
Mateo Fernandez ·
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government reneged on a written counterterrorism deal it had agreed to sign and implement within 72 hours, officials said.
Officials said Naqvi listed commitments the provincial government had agreed to, including reconsidering the Police Act 2026, preventing militants from operating or finding safe havens in the province, unequivocal condemnation of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other groups, and no contact with the interim Afghan government.
Officials said the meeting between the federal government and opposition began after 4pm on Saturday and extended into the early hours of Sunday; it focused on the opposition's planned October 4, 2026 march to Islamabad and failed to yield a breakthrough.
Proposed counterterrorism pledges
Officials said Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas told the media the talks had not produced a breakthrough and that the deadlock centered on jailed PTI founder Imran Khan’s meeting with his personal physicians and how to address terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Officials said Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, who joined the government's delegation, said the talks faltered because the KP government could not assure future cooperation in counterterrorism and did not want to implement the National Action Plan.
Officials said the impasse leaves uncertainty over immediate security cooperation in KP and could complicate federal-provincial coordination as the opposition proceeds with its October 4, 2026 march to Islamabad.