Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Gandapur chaired a meeting of the province’s major political and religious parties in Islamabad on Monday to find consensus against terrorism.

The meeting was titled ‘National Unity against Terrorism’ and was reportedly organised after instructions from Pakitan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan.

A statement issued after the meeting said that the participants stressed that ties with Afghanistan would need to be improved to find a lasting solution for terrorism in Pakistan.

The leaders also called for scholars from all schools of thought to be engaged so a lasting solution can be found for the issues in Kurram.

The participants also agreed that scholars from all schools of thought should be taken on board to

Among the attendees were representatives of several religious parties including Jamat-e-Islami, Jamiat-e-Ulema Pakistan, Aalmi Majlis Khatm-e-Nabuwat, Majlis-e-Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen, Islami Tehreek, Markazi Ulema Council, Tehreek-e-Minhaj-ul-Quran, Jamaat Ahl-e-Hadees and Pakistan Markazi Muslim League among others.

Professor Ibrahim, Liaquat Baloch, Sahibzada Abulkhair Muhammad Zubair, Qari Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh and Syed Nasir Abbas Shirazi were among those present.

Several PTI leaders including Asad Qaiser, Barrister Gohar, Barrister Saif were also present in the meeting.

The participants of the meeting said a national consensus was need to fight issues like terrorism, sectarianism, lawlessness and ethnic discrimination in the country. They also added that a follow-up meeting should be called in Peshawar followed by similar meetings in other provinces.

2024 was the worst year in a decade in terms of terrorism incidents and resulting fatalities in Pakistan. According to a report by the Center for Research and Security Studies in 2024 revealed that 2546 people including civilians and security forces were killed and 2267 were injured.

Out of these casualties, Kp was the worst hit of all with 1,616 deaths.