PTI Long March Reaches Kohat from Karak

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) long march, which started from Lakki Marwat, has reached Kohat after an overnight stay in Karak. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is leading the long march and is expected to address party workers upon reaching Kohat, where Member of the National Assembly Shehryar Afridi will receive him. After staying in Kohat, the convoy will proceed toward Peshawar. According to the party leadership, the future course of action will be formally announced upon reaching Charsadda and Swabi.

Meanwhile, the use of an official helicopter by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister during the political long march has drawn a strong reaction at the federal level. Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi shared a video on the social media platform X, sarcastically saying that Sohail Afridi’s helicopter journey from Peshawar to Lakki Marwat must have been for official duties and was perhaps related to the security situation. Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said that during a meeting with the interior minister, the use of government resources for the political march was described as a clear violation of Islamabad High Court orders.

Addressing participants at Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Chowk on the Bannu-Karak border, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said unequivocally that he believed in negotiations, but some demands presented by certain quarters during recent talks were against the interests of the province and its people. He called for meetings between the prime minister and opposition leaders and urged detailed negotiations on major political and constitutional issues under a joint committee. He further said that the long march could be called off if the assurances given to the party were implemented.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry referred to seven demands presented to the PTI delegation, saying they included condemnation of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), elimination of terrorist hideouts, repatriation of Afghan refugees, and implementation of the National Action Plan. He maintained that the PTI negotiating team did not have a full mandate and argued that if Sohail Afridi himself was to make the decisions, he should have participated directly in the negotiations.