The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday rejected a white paper issued by the province’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) lawmakers, maintaining there is “no truth” in it.
The white paper, made public by PMLN’s Ikhtiar Wali Khan and Samar Haroon Bilour, outlines several statistics related to terrorism, police resources, drugs, smuggling and the provincial government’s security measures. It states 122 police personnel were martyred in KP during the first half of 2026, compared with 63 in the same period last year, a 93.7% increase. It says injuries rose from 84 to 175, an increase of 108.3%, while there were 680 terrorist attacks from January to September 2026.
The document further states that 3,113 personnel were serving against 3,844 sanctioned Counter-Terrorism Department posts in December 2025, leaving 19% of the seats vacant. It said the KP CTD had just nine M4 rifles against a requirement of 200 and 11 night-vision devices against a requirement of 35.
The white paper also noted that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had chaired his first, and thus far only, meeting of the provincial Apex Committee 112 days after assuming office. The lawmakers questioned the implementation of its decisions after attacks in Bannu, Tank, Hangu and Kohat.
In a press conference responding to the white paper, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan maintained the province was a victim of terrorism and accused the federal government of “politicizing” the threat to oust the chief minister. “If an attempt is made to impose Governor’s Rule, the people of the province will lay siege to the Governor’s House,” he said of reports the federal government is considering the option amidst lack of coordination on tackling terrorism with the KP government.
“We reject the white paper issued against the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government. There is no truth in what has been stated in it,” claimed Jan, questioning why there was no talk of imposing Governor’s Rule in Balochistan, which is also facing terrorism.
“When the PTI government was formed in 2013 [in KP], peace was established in this province,” he said. In December 2014, Pakistan saw one of its worst terror attacks when the banned TTP attacked the Army Public School, killing around 150 people, mostly children.
According to Jan, the federation formulates the anti-terrorism policy, and its failure falls on the center, not the provincial government. “The people sitting in Islamabad who take these decisions have never even visited Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. What do they know about this province? There is still time to sit and talk. Formulate policy in consultation with those affected by terrorism,” he said, lamenting the actual problem was Sohail Afridi.
Governor’s Rule
Jan’s statement followed several press conferences throughout the day, with multiple federal ministers and KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi indicating Governor’s Rule in the province remained an option amidst surging terrorism.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Minister Amir Muqam, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and the KP governor all said the situation in KP had reached a point requiring drastic measures.
“If such circumstances arise, or if they already exist, in which the Constitution allows governor’s rule or an emergency to be imposed, then it can be done,” said the law minister. Muqam, meanwhile, said consultations on all constitutional and legal options are ongoing.
Kundi urged the provincial government against pushing the situation to a point where governor’s rule becomes inevitable. “The province’s law and order situation cannot afford a long march and staging a march on Islamabad was inappropriate under the circumstances,” he said, referring to the ruling PTI’s planned long march to Islamabad, initially scheduled for Sept. 27, but since postponed to Oct. 4.
The information minister and minister of state for interior, meanwhile, accused the KP government of facilitating terrorists for political and financial interests and having a “soft attitude” for Afghanistan.