ISLAMABAD:
Amid a public spat over “defective” bulletproof vehicles, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Wednesday that the disputed vehicles would now be sent to Balochistan instead.
The move followed KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s criticism of Islamabad’s anti-terror policy and his claim that the vehicles provided by the federal government were “old and defective”.
His remarks sparked swift reactions from both the home ministry and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, highlighting renewed tensions between the Center and the provinces over security cooperation.
Balochistan CM Sarfraz Bugti waded into the controversy late on Tuesday, saying that if KP refused the bulletproof vehicles, his province would gladly accept them to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts.
“It is an appeal to the Home Minister that if the KP government refuses to take the bulletproof vehicles, they should be transferred to the Balochistan government so that terrorism can be effectively countered,” Bugti said in a post on social media platform X.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi responded to Bugti’s submission and agreed to the transfer.
“CM sahib, done. These bulletproof vehicles will be sent to Balochistan immediately to improve the fight against terrorism. Thank you for raising this,” Naqvi X said on Wednesday morning, confirming that the vehicles rejected by KP would be diverted to Quetta.
Earlier, Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry had also weighed in on the controversy, criticizing Afridi for “playing politics” over terrorism.
He expressed disappointment that “the fight against terrorism and casualties of soldiers were overshadowed by politics,” and alleged that the PTI-led government in KP “chose not to fight the war against terrorism so that they could use it to blackmail the government.”
