ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan addressing the media. -Reuters File Photo

PESHAWAR Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan said his party has always opted for a negotiated solution, but they had been left with no choice except to support the ongoing military action against the militants.

I cannot give a timeframe as to when the military action in Swat, Buner and Dir will end. The provincial government is in touch with the army and federal government over the operation, said Asfandyar Wali Khan at a news conference held at the offices Emergency Response Unit (ERU) on Thursday.

Flanked by ANP provincial president Afrasiab Khattak, NWFP information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and head of the ERU Mohammad Azam Khan, he said that the operation was launched as a last resort to restore peace in Malakand and would be taken to its logical conclusion.

He said that enormous amount of donations were coming from inside and outside the country that will be utilised through the ERU to provide relief to the internally displaced persons and subsequently measures will be taken to rehabilitate them. He lauded the establishment of ERU and its staff and urged them to work with more zeal and devotion.

We have signed an agreement with Tehreek Nifaz Shariat Mohammadi to enforce Nizam Adle Regulation in fulfillment of the peoples demand. There was no pressure from Maulana Fazlullah or anyone else. It was a public demand that we sincerely tried to fulfill, he told the media.

We wanted peace peace in Malakand, however the agenda of the militants was not promulgation of Islamic law, but destabilisation of the country.

Asfandyar said that Pakhtuns had been at the receiving end of terrorism, now was a ripe time for all of them to get united and foil any attempts aiming to disintegrate them.

He expressed amazement over opposition to the military operation by some religious groups, notably JUI of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and said that all these parties were in agreement with the government as far as army action in violence-hit districts was concerned. They said one thing inside the APC and are saying something else outside now, he said.