Khyber Pakhtunkhwa GoverMasood Kausarnor on Wednesday vowed to crush Taliban in the region after surviving an assassination attempt. A barrage of rockets was aimed at Kausar as he was scheduled to address a gathering of tribal elders in Orakzai Agency on Tuesday. “We will chase them (Taliban militants) till their complete elimination,” Kausar said in a statement. “Terrorists have no faith, no religion. They are enemies of Islam, Pakistan and development of tribal areas.”
“They have their own agenda, the agenda of destruction and devastation”, Kausar added, urging unity among tribesmen against the Taliban. A senior government official told AFP a total of six rockets were fired within short intervals immediately after the governor arrived at the venue of the rally. The first rocket hit the gathering of 200 tribal elders, the second landed near a helipad while four others dropped in surrounding fields close to the site of the rally.
Kausar said he would never be terrified by “such cowardly acts”, stressing his government’s “firm resolve to eliminate militancy, terrorism and extremism”. Kausar said his government controlled most areas of Orakzai and expressed hope that remaining Taliban-infested pockets would be cleared soon. Earlier, Addressing the convocation ceremony of the 127th General Duty Pilot and 85th Air Defence Courses at the PAF Academy in Risalpur, Kausar advised the newly-graduated pilot officers and aviation cadets of the Pakistan Air Force to make constant endeavours and augment their professional expertise and intellectual stature.
He said while the PAF would continue to provide them ample opportunities to achieve the objective, it would depend on their keenness to capitalise on the available opportunities and achieve the highest standard of military leadership. The KP governor said, “As an ideological nation, “our true strength lies in the unshakable faith in the Almighty and it is through this divine faith, combined with resolute will and self-reliance that the new eaglets can acquit themselves in the real sense of the sacred trust that the nation has reposed in them.”
“I am sure as true Muslims, you will spare no sacrifice in defending our country in all circumstances”, he said.
