ISLAMABAD – Ousted prime minister Imran Khan’s party has announced it will not attend an all-parties conference (APC) being hosted by the government next week to discuss the growing threat of militant violence in the country.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday called for national unity over the issue and asked Pakistan’s top political leaders to rise above their differences and collectively tackle the threat against the state and its people. He invited Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to the conference, which would be held on February 7.
“How can we sit with the government which is registering cases against us,” asked PTI General Secretary Asad Umar while interacting with the media outside the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Umar acknowledged the growing threat of violence but said that state resources were being used to file treason cases against the leaders of his party instead of fighting the scourge of militancy.
The government decided to call the APC in the wake of a deadly suicide attack that killed at least 100 people at a mosque at Peshawar’s police headquarters during a prayer congregation on Monday.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks since a fragile deal between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) came to an end last November.
A TTP commander claimed the attack on the mosque before his group distanced itself from the incident by issuing another statement.
