ANP Senator Aimal Wali Khan calls Dera blast ‘state failure’

PESHAWAR — Central President of the Awami National Party, Senator Aimal Wali Khan, has decried the suicide bombing that targeted the Aman Mela checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan's Darazinda region, branding it "state failure" and urging greater accountability from both federal and provincial authorities. In a statement issued on Saturday, Khan asserted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is enduring one of its darkest chapters in history, alleging that the Pakhtun community is enduring "systematic genocide."

He emphasized that the ongoing violence has plunged the province into the "fire of terrorism," while the state seemingly remains a passive observer. Khan also denounced a reported attack on an ambulance transporting the victim's body, deeming it a despicable act. The ANP leader questioned the government's reaction to the deteriorating security climate and emphasized that merely invoking "Fitna al-Khawarij" and "Fitna al-Hindustan" cannot absolve the state from its duties.

"If these occurrences are also the result of an external conspiracy, then who bears the constitutional responsibility to prevent them?" Khan queried. He accused the federal and provincial governments of distancing themselves from the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, prioritizing their own interests over the province's security and other pressing concerns.

Khan implored the governments to cease blaming one another and assume responsibility for ensuring peace and safeguarding citizens. "The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can no longer tolerate additional funerals," he asserted, stressing that they require peace and security rather than further conjectures, pledges, and denouncements.

Khan expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and prayed for the swift recovery of the wounded.