The government will not hold talks with terrorists and extremists in the Tribal Areas and Balochistan, Rehman Malik, adviser to the prime minister on Interior, said on Tuesday.
| Depends on your definition of a terrorist or extremist, doesn't it? |
Addressing a conference of the district co-ordination officers (DCOs) posted at the disaster-prone areas of the country, Malik said the government had adopted a reconciliatory policy towards the people in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan, but that it was not in contact with terrorists. He said the government would set up crisis management cells at every district to deal with terrorism.
Malik said that terrorism had damaged both the countryÂ’s economy and the morale of the law enforcement agencies. He said the Interior secretary had been told to train the DCOs to effectively counter terrorism.
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