Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan has said that the militants have entered the settled areas of NWFP due to the flawed policies of the former governor.
Talking to media on Saturday prior to a meeting of the National Safety Commission, he also disclosed that the lives of a number of politicians were in danger for which efforts were being made to provide them maximum security cover.
The Minister said that former NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai's policy of entering into peace agreements with tribal elders failed and promoted militancy even in the settled districts of the province.
He also said that the operation in South Waziristan would continue until the area was purged of miscreants, and he believed that militants in Darra Adamkhel would be crushed within a couple of days. To a question, he said that a number of politicians were facing security threats from terrorist organisations and the government was making utmost efforts to provide them foolproof security cover.
However, the politicians should themselves be careful of their security, he said, adding that the politicians would be given security plan in a bid to avoid any untoward incident during election campaign.
He said that the investigation regarding the assassination of PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto was going well and a number of people had been arrested on the pointation of one Aitzaz Shah, who was arrested from D I Khan for his alleged involvement in the December 27 firing and bomb explosion.
He said that the Scotland Yard team was working successfully and some of the team members would come back soon to inform the government about its findings. The Minister said that elections in the restive tribal areas, including Swat, would be held as per schedule on February 18.