By Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday announced compensation money of Rs2 million for the families of those martyred in the Peshawar mosque bombing each and Rs0.5 million for those injured in the attack.
Addressing the Apex Committee meeting in Peshawar convened in the wake of a deadly terrorist attack in the city that claimed the lives of 101 people, mostly policemen, the prime minister called for unity and expressed frustration at the criticism leveled against the federal government from opposition parties in the wake of terrorism.
He said, “We are here to express sympathies with the bereaved families and this is the purpose of the meeting.
There was a security breach: Prime Minister
The prime minister said, “We should admit the fact that the terror incident occurred because the attacker was able to reach the mosque by managing to breach the security arrangements.”
However, he denounced conspiracy theories linked to the Peshawar bomb blast, adding that “undue criticism was seen on social media, which was certainly condemnable.”
The occurrence of the incident due to security lapses will be probed, he added.
The PM inquired how the former K-P government spent the Rs417 billion given to the province in the last 13 years as part of the NFC award.
He said that CTD was formed (in Punjab) for Rs2.5 billion, adding that similar forces should have been set up in K-P as well.
“We built Safe City for Rs14 billion. K-P had Rs417 billion, they should have set up safe city centres and satellite forensic labs. Nobody would have questioned them,” he said.
The prime minister invited all political parties to the multi-party conference (MPC) being held in Islamabad on February 7 to discuss “important challenges” being faced by the country.
