MANSEHRA, June 24: Vowing to defeat terrorism and provide an environment of peace to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Friday inaugurated the three-day Kaghan festival here at Naran.

“We want to revive the insurgency-hit tourism industry and project the true image of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa by holding such festivals. Time is not far when we would achieve our goal to eliminate militancy from our province and make it secure for the people and generations to come,” said Mr Hussain after inaugurating the Kaghan festival.

Provincial ministers Ahmad Hussain Shah, Aqil Shah and Kalb-i-Hassan were also present on the occasion.

The information minister said that the government was committed to providing entertainment opportunities to the people of the province. “If the terrorists are firm to target the innocent people, we too are firm in our resolve to crush them and hold such events across the province,” he said.

He said that though the economy of the province was badly hit by the subversive elements, but people and government were committed to revival of the peace in all parts of the province and tribal regions.

The minister announced that Kaghan festival would be held every year to boost the livelihood of the locals.

With the inauguration of the grand gala the games and music events were started and people enjoyed either taking part in these events or experiencing the traditional games and dances in the cold weather.

Taking part in the competitions, Aqil Shah and Kalb-i-Hassan dragged Mian Iftikhar and Ahmad Hussain over the line in the tug of war contest after the inauguration of the grand gala.

The three-day competitions that would continue till Sunday included trout fishing, river rafting, mountain bike race, rock climbing, cultural show, paragliding, local dance, volleyball and folk music. Stalls of handicrafts and food were also set up and the tourists coming from different parts of the country said they were enjoying the events and everything at the venue.

However, some people from Abbottabad complained about lack of participation of the local people in the games.