UNS: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan has requested to be released on parole to help mediate tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, his sister Noreen Khan said on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media after she met the ex-premier at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, Noreen said that the PTI founder was hurt by the recent border clashes between forces from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
His offer comes as Pakistani forces have repelled multiple attacks from Afghan forces and their affiliated militant groups in recent days.
Pakistani forces began their retaliatory strikes inside Afghanistan last week after Afghan forces resorted to unprovoked firing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The unlawful and aggressive actions by Afghan forces resulted in the martyrdom of multiple Pakistani soldiers, while Pakistani Armed Forces — in their retaliatory actions — have eliminated over 200 militants.
Pakistan’s intense and befitting response ended temporarily after the Afghan Taliban regime requested a ceasefire, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) said earlier today.
The Foreign Office said that Pakistan agreed to a temporary 48-hour ceasefire, which took effect from 6pm this evening.
In her media talk, Khan’s sister said that the PTI founder offered to sort out the country’s issues with Afghanistan if he was released on parole.
“Imran Khan was hurt by the situation with Afghanistan,” she said, adding that the former premier urged negotiations between the two neighbouring countries to resolve their issues.
Noreen said that the PTI founder was also saddened by the way Afghan nationals were expelled from Pakistan.
The PTI and its founder have been criticised by their rival political parties over their insistence on negotiations with banned outfits, involved in carrying out terrorist attacks across the country for decades.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have also accused Khan of allowing the settlement of TTP militants in the country during his tenure as the premier, which ended with his ouster via the opposition’s no-trust motion in April 2022.
