Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has condemned the 'massacre' of tribesmen by using force, including air power and demanded a parliamentary committee to probe into the event that led to the carnage in South Waziristan.
In a statement issued here on Thursday, PTI Chief Imran Khan termed the killings in the tribal areas extra-judicial and held the government responsible for it.
He said that the government had no solid grounds to continue military operation in the tribal areas, which was launched on the behest of United States and had now entered into fifth month.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that more than 70 people were killed in air strike, which a military spokesperson said, was against foreign miscreants hiding in the tribal areas.
"If certain sabotage activities are taking place in the area, evidence should be collected and the alleged criminals should be arrested and prosecuted according to the prevalent law," Imran said.
For generations, the PTI chief said, people had endured poverty just to pay for a strong army that could protect them from external aggression. Instead of protecting the people, the military rulers were forcing the army to act like the US occupation army in Iraq and the Israeli army in occupied Palestine, he added.
Imran reminded President General Pervez Musharraf that his spokespersons are calling tribesmen 'miscreants' a term that was used to describe Bengalis killed by the army in East Pakistan.
At that time also the official media misled the people and now again irreparable damage was being done to the federation, he said.
The military rulers had not learnt any lessons from the past when half of the country was lost just because a military ruler was not willing to hand over power and the transition to democracy ended with the separation of East Pakistan.
The PTI chief feared that the ongoing military operation in the tribal areas could lead to a full-scale insurgency, which would wrap the whole country into its flames.
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