LAHORE, Nov 2: Reacting to the killing of Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud in a US drone attack on Friday, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has resolved that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will cut off Nato supply lines even if it ceases to exist due to the extreme step.

A “strong” resolution against drone attacks and the “sabotaging of the process of peace talks” will be tabled in an emergency session of the KP Assembly on Monday.

This was said by PTI chairman Imran Khan while talking to reporters after a meeting of the party’s core committee on the one-point agenda of drone attacks, here on Saturday.

He said that the US had deliberately sabotaged the process of talks with Taliban by killing Hakeemullah Mehsud. The killing had come at a time when the government, backed by a mandate given by an all-party conference, had taken steps to contact the Taliban leadership, he said.

Mr Khan appealed to people and political parties to unite for peace and called for immediate convening of an APC to endorse the PTI’s decision to cut off Nato supplies.

He said that the KP government’s decision to block Nato supplies would be within the ambit of law and citied the Peshawar High Court’s judgment of May this year on drone attacks in this regard. The judgment says that if the US does not stop drone strikes, the government should either shoot drones down or deny logistic and other support to the US.

He said that Nato supplies must be stopped till the time when the federal government was able to get drone strikes stopped and came up with a clear commitment about efforts for structured dialogue for peace.

People of Fata and KP had been devastated in the war against terror over the past nine years, he said. “Some 1,500 innocent people have been killed and 350 have become disabled. On the other hand, only 47 militants have been killed in drone attacks over the past five years.”

The PTI leader said that he would raise the issues of drone attacks and peace talks in the National Assembly and his party’s MPAs would table resolutions in Sindh and Punjab assemblies.

Opposition parties will also meet on Monday (tomorrow) to develop a consensus strategy against drone attacks.

Because of efforts made by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, he said, talks with Taliban were to begin in Bannu on Saturday but the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud had sabotaged the plan.

He recalled that soon after the APC recommended talks with Taliban, three bomb attacks in Peshawar killed several innocent men, women and children, including Christians. Who had carried out the blasts, he asked while saying that Taliban had denied any role in the attacks.

Saying that the nation was going through a defining moment in its history, he urged people to rise against the US and other forces that were disrupting peace process. “The PTI will continue struggle till the restoration of peace,” Mr Khan vowed.

He criticised some media persons for raising doubts about the success of the proposed talks and claimed that a prominent US legislator had told him that his country was spending money on Pakistani media and media persons who were propagating the perception. He said that such media persons were also ridiculing the army though it had lost four generals and thousands of soldiers (in the war against terrorism).

“The present turmoil in Pakistan is a happy occasion for anti-peace forces,” he said.

Earlier, the meeting of the PTI core committee asked the government to look into three recent terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that had delayed the talks to determine whether those who sought to sabotage the peace process had been involved in the attacks.

The meeting was attended by PTI President Javed Hashmi, Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Secretary General Jahangir Tareen, committee members Asad Umer, Arif Alvi, Fauzia Kasuri, Khurshid Kasuri and others.