PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High court (PHC) on Tuesday barred the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to withdraw Pakistan armed forces from the Malakand division.
“The immediate withdrawal of the troops would create legal complications,” the PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan remarked while hearing a case pertaining to the issue.
The PHC Chief Justice said that federal and provincial governments should make a joint decision over the withdrawal of the forces from the Malakand division.
On Saturday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced that withdrawal of troops from Malakand division would begin next month and the civil administration would take over control of the area.
The spokesman for KPK Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Shiraz Paracha, said that the withdrawal could begin in mid-October. In the first phase, troops would be pulled out from Buner and Shangla districts, he said, adding that the chief minister had approved the plan and everybody had been consulted.
