Shehbaz Sharif to visit Peshawar to review security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under governor's rule

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Peshawar on Thursday to review security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, his first visit since the federal government took control of the militancy-hit province from Imran Khan’s party.

“The prime minister will visit Peshawar tomorrow to review the security situation in province,” said Mehmood Jan Babar, information adviser to the council now running 12 of the province’s districts. Proposals for more police recruitment and extra funding were ready for the prime minister, he said.

Governor’s rule and an emergency took effect in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 11 October, ending the provincial government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Twelve districts, eight of them in the former tribal areas, including North Waziristan, Bajaur and Kurram, and four in the south, including Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan, have been placed under a special administrative and development framework. Security was the main sticking point in talks between the government and the opposition that broke down before the emergency was declared.

The violence is the government’s main argument. Federal minister Attaullah Tarar has said there were 3,774 militant attacks in the province in 2025, with 3,512 deaths, and 2,857 attacks and 2,775 deaths in the first nine months of this year. Islamabad blames militants based in Afghanistan, which Kabul denies, and accused the PTI government of failing to cooperate on counter-terrorism.

Under a new command structure, police, army and Federal Constabulary officials will plan joint operations, and ten armoured personnel carriers have gone to counter-terrorism police. Gatherings are restricted in the designated districts. The PTI calls the takeover undemocratic and has challenged it in the Peshawar High Court.