Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry maintained on Sunday that most of the Joint Awami Action Committee’s (JAAC) demands, agreed between the JAAC and the government last October, had been fulfilled. “Thirty-five out of 38 demands have been implemented,” he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad. He maintained “negative propaganda was being spread that the government has only three out of 38 demands,” emphasising that the solution cannot be “violent demonstrations” and dialogue should be the way forward. At this, the minister asked if the unrest was an attempt at “portraying Pakistan and AJK as separate entities; is it an attempt to weaken Pakistan’s relation with AJK; is it an attempt to draw parallels between the people of India-occupied Kashmir and AJK, and lastly, is this an attempt to weaken the Kashmir cause?” He held that the government had not disregarded the JAAC’s demands; however, he pointed out that, “when we talk to them about resolving is...
KHYBER: The Peshawar-Torkham Highway was reopened on Sunday following a temporary closure by Sultan Khel tribesmen protesting the handling of ‘targeted killings’ in their area by Zaka Khel elders and government authorities. Two Sultan Khel residents were gunned down by unidentified assailants on Friday evening — in the same area where two policemen had been targeted over the last few months. The fresh violence prompted Sultan Khel residents from the Zaka Khel tribe to block the Peshawar-Torkham Highway by staging a protest on Saturday. The road closure also temporarily suspended the repatriation of Afghan families via the Torkham border. Murad Hussain, a leading figure among the protesters, told Dawn on Sunday that a negotiating committee comprising young Sultan Khel tribesmen was formed to hold talks with government functionaries to find ways to restore peace in the Landi Kotal tehsil, while also securing the main Peshawar-Torkham Highway from nighttime terrorist movement reporte...