In the wake of Tuesday’s militant attack on Bannu Cantonment, the Awami Workers Party (AWP) has expressed grave concern over the escalating violence in Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, including targeted killings, suicide bombings, enforced disappearances, and relentless military operations.
The party has called for an urgent overhaul of state policy, warning that failure to act will plunge both provinces into outright civil war.
The AWP has reiterated its long-standing demand for Pakistan to adopt a non-aligned and anti-imperialist foreign policy, ensuring that the Baloch and Pashtun populations are not sacrificed as pawns in a new era of Great Power rivalry.
AWP General Secretary Dr Bakhshal Thalho in a statement on Wednesday stated that the Bannu attack was part of a spiralling wave of violence by religious militants in Pakhtunkhwa, exposing the catastrophic consequences of the state’s support for the Afghan Taliban and so-called ‘good’ Taliban groups within Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the relentless militarisation of Balochistan, including the abhorrent practice of enforced disappearances, is fuelling an insurgency that garners increasing support among Baloch youth.
The general secretary emphasises that the establishment’s suppression of peaceful and democratic politics has made it directly responsible for the deaths, displacements, and disappearances of thousands of innocent civilians.
“The AWP believes that the only viable solution to the bloodshed in Pakhtunkhwa is for the security establishment to abandon its misguided pursuit of a ‘friendly government’ in Kabul—a policy that has backfired spectacularly since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.”
The party also calls for a systematic overhaul of educational curricula, media, and other ideological tools that push youth toward religious extremism. Instead, peaceful movements like the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) and Ulasi Pasoon must be given space to promote an alternative, democratic vision for Pashtun society.
The AWP demands an immediate end to the criminalization of peaceful political mobilization in Balochistan, particularly the repression faced by the women-led Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which continues to advocate for accountability regarding enforced disappearances and indiscriminate military operations.
The party also condemns the rising tide of ethnic violence against civilians, citing recent targeted killings in Balochistan’s Harnai and Barkhan areas as examples of deepening ethnic divides and a worsening cycle of violence.
The AWP asserts that Pakistan’s militarised ruling class is exploiting the natural resources of Balochistan and Pakhtunkhwa—from Kohat and Waziristan to Gwadar, Reko Diq, and Saindak—while fuelling geopolitical conflicts involving global and regional powers.
The party criticised mainstream political parties for their silence and complicity in the face of growing militarization and resource extraction, offering no hope to the people of Pakistan who suffer the consequences of hate-driven politics.
The AWP urges all progressive forces to unite against the intensifying militarization of state and society and to build a genuinely democratic alternative that eradicates all forms of oppression and exploitation.
The party warns that without immediate action, the people of Balochistan and Pakhtunkhwa will continue to bear the brunt of a failing state policy, pushing the regions closer to the brink of civil war.
The AWP remains committed to a just and lasting peace in Balochistan and Pakhtunkhwa, calling for an end to violence, exploitation, and the systemic injustices that have plagued these regions for decades.