Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chaired a meeting of the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan at Governor House in Peshawar and defended the imposition of emergency and governor's rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), saying the deteriorating security situation had left the government no alternative, Daily Islamabad Today reported, citing the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The meeting was attended by Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, according to the PMO.

Source: Daily Islamabad Today (PMO)

Shehbaz said armed militants continue to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan "around the clock" to attack civilians and security personnel, and declared that "this bloodshed must be completely stopped", the Kabul Times News Network reported. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Kabul of allowing groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to use Afghan soil; Afghanistan's Taliban authorities have routinely denied allowing foreign armed groups to operate from their territory and have told Islamabad to address its internal security problems itself, the same report noted.

Source: Kabul Times News Network

President Asif Ali Zardari approved the emergency and governor's rule on October 11 under Articles 232 and 234 of Pakistan's Constitution, transferring executive powers to Governor Kundi, imposing emergency measures in 12 districts and removing Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and his cabinet, Islamabad Today reported. Shehbaz blamed the previous PTI-led provincial government for the resurgence of terrorism, alleging it had brought militants back during its tenure, left 5,000 police posts vacant and failed to equip the police and Counter Terrorism Department — and said K-P had received Rs800 billion under the National Finance Commission Award for counterterrorism since 2010, yaani about Rs80,000 crore. PTI has rejected the federal government's position, opposed governor's rule, and challenged the measures in the Peshawar High Court.

Source: Daily Islamabad Today

A day after the meeting, Field Marshal Munir visited Corps Headquarters in Peshawar, where he was briefed on the security situation, counter-terrorism operations and border management, Pakistan's military media wing ISPR said, as reported by 99 News on Friday, October 23. "We would continue the campaign against Indian sponsored terrorist outfits to the fullest and hit them hard wherever they are," ISPR quoted Munir as saying, adding that "with the support of the people, Pakistan would surely inflict total defeat to the terrorists and their perverted ideology." The military statement gave no further operational details. The description of the militant groups as Indian-sponsored is the Pakistan military's claim; no Indian response was reported in these accounts. The Peshawar meetings followed fresh violence in the province on Thursday, including a gunbattle in Karak in which four police personnel, including a Counter-Terrorism Department deputy superintendent, were killed, and a remote-controlled bomb blast in Bannu that injured two civilians, 99 News reported.

Source: 99 News (ISPR statement)