Pakistan grapples with a terrifying uptick in terror incidents, from blasts to ambushes, claiming civilian lives daily. Amid this chaos, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has squarely blamed PTI and its leader Imran Khan for emboldening extremists, dubbing him ‘Taliban Khan’ in a bold press conference.
The session followed a shocking suicide attack on an Islamabad Imambargah, where attackers struck despite stringent security protocols including the Safe City network. Dismissing suggestions of incompetence, Tarar painted a picture of past triumphs: operations Radd-ul-Fasaad and Zarb-e-Azb had stamped out bombings and revived order in volatile Karachi.
He then turned the spotlight on PTI’s era, implying their soft stance on militants—portraying TTP members as ‘brothers’ and advocating their integration into communities—reignited the flames. ‘Taliban Khan’s flawed vision is costing us dearly today,’ Tarar charged, recounting how previous regimes had purged the nation of terrorists through relentless action.
Sarcastically, he linked PTI to the current wave: ‘Terror’s return? Thank PTI.’ The party fired back vehemently online, decrying Tarar’s levity post-tragedy. ‘Smirking through hate-filled verses after such a massacre shows their apathy toward the masses,’ PTI tweeted officially.
In a separate post, they mocked him outright: ‘This joker, grinning while accusing PTI after four years of misrule, embodies the trash now steering the government.’ The feud lays bare Pakistan’s fractured politics, where accountability dissolves into accusations even as bombs detonate. With security hanging by a thread, such distractions risk prolonging the nightmare for everyday citizens demanding real solutions over spectacle.