Will make all efforts to resolve issues of Pashtuns: Pak Army

The Pakistani Army on Monday said it would make all efforts to resolve the issues faced by Pashtuns in the tribal areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, but would not tolerate allowing them to engage in violence. Director General of Pakistan Army's media wing the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor also said that "the time was up" for those who are playing in the hands of the enemies.

"Time was up for them (Pashtun Tahafuz Movement) who are playing in the hands of enemies," he said. Without giving the details about the action against the PTM, he said: "there would not be any law and order situation while dealing with the group as no unlawful path will be adopted."

He said all lawful demands of the PTM related to clearing the mines from the area and removal of unnecessary check posts have already been met. "We created 48 teams and 45 per cent of these areas were cleared (of mines). About 101 casualties of the Pakistan Army also occurred in those areas while clearing those mines," he said.

The PTM started a couple of years ago to safeguard rights of people in the tribal region.