PESH AWAR: Members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday demanded abolition of the Action in Aid of Civil Power Ordinance under which the armed forces were called to help civilian authorities eliminate terrorism from the province.

The demand was made by both treasury and opposition members during an assembly session chaired by Deputy Speaker Suriya Bibi here.

Special assistant to the chief minister for housing Dr Amjad Ali said the Action in Aid of Civil Power Ordinance was the root cause of unrest in the province, so the house should think about it.

`The house must think that the root cause of all this mayhem is the Action in Aid of Civil Power Ordinance, 2019, so it should be abolished to prevent further loss of public life and bring peace,` he said.

Mr Ali warned that there would be more chaos in KP and Balochistan if the ordinance remained in force.

He said he would never sup-port more military operations as they fueled terrorism.

`At least I will not support military action even if the provincial government favours it because such actions fuel terrorism,` he said.

The aide to the chief minister said the people, who the military fought against, were trained, facilitated and launched by it against the USSR.

He said that the former rulers declared on record that 90,000 people were trained to fight against the USSR.

`Former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto termed mujahideen national heroes,` he insisted.

Mr Ali said pe ople questioned why terrorist infiltration into the country couldn`t be stopped.

He also said that Afghanistan shared a border with six countries but it was never heard that terrorists crossed from there into those countries.

Member of the opposition Awami National Party Mohammad Nisar Baaz said all the laws, which were being misused, should be abolished.

He said that when his party`s workers, office-bearers and lawmakers were attacked, many believed the target was just ANP, but the party always termed the state`s `unwise` decisions the reason behind the poor law and order situation.

Mr Baaz said it was the PTIgovernment that called the armed forces under Article 245 of the Constitution in aid of the civil power in the province.

He said that the PTPs government extended the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulations 2011 to the entire province in 2019 but the same party obtained stay orders from the Supreme Court when the Peshawar High Court nullified that move.

`If the provincial government wants to abolish that ordinance, it should withdraw the stay orders it obtained,` he said.

The lawmaker said that even after two decades, peace could not be restored in the province and those responsible for maintaining law and order failed to fulfil their responsibilities.

He said that the armed forces were called in 2006 due to the law and order situation in Malakand region and even 21 years later, the armed forces were present in the province, with their expenses being paid from the provincial budget.

`It is a burden on our resources.Ifthehouseis serious about shrinking the armed forces` role, the police and the CTD must be strengthened,` he said.

Mr Baaz requested the chair to call the provincial police chief and additional inspector general of the counter-terrorism department to the house for briefing on investigation into the killing of ANP leader fromBajaur Maulana Khanzeb.

Adviser to the CM for communication and works Sohail Afridi said his leader and PTI founder Imran Khan dissolved assemblies and thought that elections would be held in 90 days but it took overayearforthe electoral exercise to take place.

He said Imran was against drone strikes and military operations, so the PTPs government would never allow any military offensive in the province.

`Terrorists come over and ask for a meal. If we refuse, we are killed by them and if we do not, we are killed by the security forces,` he said, wondering how terrorists reach residential areas.

Mr Afridi said terrorist movement in residential areas was an `intelligence failure` and that authorities `allowed` terrorist infiltration.

MPA Aurangzeb Khan said the situation would come under control only when people, security forces and police jointly fight against terrorists.

He said only people from the Orakzai tribal region decided not to allow any terrorists to operate in their area.

He said terrorists would be identified and their locations would be shared with lawenforcement agencies to see if any action was taken.

Member of the opposition PPP Ashbar Jan Jadoon said his party respected the military and judiciary as nationalinstitutions.

He said those calling the assembly seats reserved for women and non-Muslims unconstitutional must know those seats were allotted to parties and not individuals.

`You have been ruling this province for the last 12 years, what you have done so far against terrorism,` she asked the PTI members.

Mr Jadoon said attacks were a routine in the 2008-13 period, with the government funding terrorists.

MPA Obaidur Rehman said that from the previous Zarb-iAzb military operation in the tribal region to the ongoing Sarbakaf action in Bajaur tribal district, the province had witnessed 22 such offensives against terrorisms, claiming 8,0000 lives, costing $140 billion and displacing 3.5 million people, but the government didn`t launch even a single project to rehabilitate those people.

`I ask state institutions how terrorists enter Pakistan, why they enter Pakistan only and why these Indian proxies don`t go to Punjab and Sindh,` he said.

The house unanimously passed MPA Asif Khan Mahsud`s resolution, seeking the renaming of South Upper Waziristan district as Mehsud Waziristan.

The chair later adjourned the sitting until Monday due to a lack of quorum.