Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has demanded an immediate end to ongoing military operations in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, claiming war is being imposed on the region to “appease the anti-Taliban lobby.”
In a series of posts from his official X account, apparently based on his conversations with his sisters at Adiala Jail, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder claimed the Awami National Party (ANP) was “made unpopular” through similar actions. “Launching operations against our own people merely to please foreign powers does not improve the situation; it only makes it worse,” he said, adding such actions “always leads to an increase in terrorism.” He also called for an end to drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The post directed all lawmakers from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to unite and “resist these operations and drone strikes against our own people, and to work for peace so that issues can be resolved through dialogue.” Describing Afghanistan as a “brotherly Muslim country,” he also criticized the forcible deportation of illegally residing Afghans from Pakistan.
“[Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal] Asim Munir is doing all this merely to appease the anti-Taliban lobby, deliberately imposing war in a place where no war exists,” read the post, warning the situation would continue to deteriorate if the measures did not come to a halt.
In his posts, the PTI leader reiterated his likening of Pakistan’s present-day situation to the formation of Bangladesh in 1971, claiming Yahya Khan had split the country into two to extend his rule. In this regard, he reiterated his claims of the May 9, 2023 riots being a “false flag operation” to sideline the PTI. Defending his decision to boycott by-elections, he claimed the PTI knew those seats would be “stolen” so it decided not to contest them at all. He also directed all PTI senators to resign from the Upper House’s standing committees.
Khan further lamented the “campaigns” against his wife and sister Aleema, claiming neither had any role in politics. “Aleema Khan only comes forward to convey my message … Bushra Begum has no role in politics whatsoever,” he said and sought a medical examination of his wife.
While Khan has no direct access to his X account during his incarceration, he has repeatedly asserted that he endorses all content posted on it.