Lt Gen (Retd) Raza Muhammad Khan (Defense Analyst): Implementation of the “National Action Plan” in its letter and spirit is the need of hour. According to the document, the provincial governments are supposed to empower the counter-terrorism departments. The personnel must be provided with appropriate training and equipped with modern weapons and latest technology to enable them to curb terrorism in a befitting manner. Moreover, the role of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) is vital to overcome the menace. To achieve the goal close coordination among all the federating units is a must as it is a matter of national importance. More than 900 Ulema have issued unanimous edict [Fatwa] against suicide attacks declaring such attacks un-Islamic. Political consensus is mandatory to root-out the menace of terrorism from the country.

Ikhtiyar Wali (PML-N, KP leader): It is unfortunate that every new wave of terrorism emerges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and also ends there. It is pertinent to mention that former Prime Minister Imran Khan played an irresponsible role by releasing some culprits involved in Army Public School incident that paved way for re-emergence of surge in terrorism. It is a matter of grave concern that law enforcement agencies, particularly Counter-Terrorism Department of KP is not well equipped to fight terrorism. The reason behind this situation is that the previous provincial government failed to strengthen this department.

Rana Ihsaan Afzal (SAPM): The government firmly believes that completing the IMF program is the only way forward to come out of this critical situation. The current crisis is the liquidity of the dollars causing massive decline in the foreign reserves. The IMF package will pave way for us to borrow dollars leading to increase in the foreign exchange reserves. We need to look into the current account deficit and check it. In order to comply with the IMF program the government has to take some hard and effective measures in the shape of new taxes and others steps to meet the requirements of the IMP program. However, the government is striving to protect the low-income segments of society from impact of those measures.