Fact-check: PM Shehbaz Sharif's claim about Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Counter Terrorism Department debunked

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has claimed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province failed to establish a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in the last 14 years.

The claim is incorrect.

Claim

On June 28, the prime minister told the national assembly in an address that the KP province has received Rs590 billion from the federal government to “augment their efforts” against terrorism since 2010.

“Rs590 billion were given to the province but even till today a CTD [Counter Terrorism Department] has not been set up for which the funds were allotted,” he added.

The speech was telecasted live by all news channels in Pakistan and can also be viewed here on the YouTube channel of the state broadcaster.

The premier's claim was further circulated on social media. Some of the posts can be found here, here and here.

Fact

Contrary to the premier's claim, a CTD does exist in the KP province, confirms a government official and several journalists in the province.

The office of Dr Muhammad Ali Saif, adviser to the chief minister in KP for information and public relations, told Geo Fact Check in a written response that the CTD was first established in the province in November 2013 but became fully functional in 2014.

The reply added that at the moment, the CTD was being headed by an officer of the rank of Additional Inspector General of Police and its headquarters was in the police lines in Peshawar.

In recent years, CTD police stations in the province have been increased from seven to 16, which are now located in the districts of Peshawar, Khyber, Kohistan, Kohat, Mardan, Kurram, Mohmand, Bannu, Swat, North Waziristan, Dir, South Waziristan, Bajaur, Tank, Abbottabad, and DI Khan.

The office also added that there were 3,395 officers working in CTD departments across the province, with a further 924 technical staff.

“Dedicated investigating officers have been posted in all districts to investigate cases of terror financing and extortion,” the response stated.

The presence of a CTD office in Peshawar was also confirmed by Shakeel Farman Ali, the bureau chief of Geo News in Peshawar, who added that there were at least 200 employees currently working in the Peshawar office.

Additionally, Mehboob Ali, Geo’s journalist in Swat, and Manzoor Uddin, Geo’s correspondent in Bannu, both confirmed the presence of CTD offices in their respective districts.

Follow us on @GeoFactCheck. If our readers detect any errors, we encourage them to contact us at [email protected]