The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) held a "massive gathering" in Miranshah, North Waziristan, on Sunday, members of the movement said. 

Afrasiab Khattak, a former member of the Senate of Pakistan, said in a tweet that the PTM members “are expressing opposition to a new war being imposed on both sides of Durand Line."

“PTM is trail blazer in resistance to war state repression. Glad that other political parties have mustered the courage to point out the real usurpers,” he said. 

Khor Bibi, human rights activist and supporter of PTM, in a tweet said: “Thousands of Pashtuns gathered at Miranshah in North Waziristan from all over Pashtunkhwa against state brutalities with Pashtuns.”

Mohsin Dawar, one of the leaders of the movement, addressing the gathering, criticized the recent stance by Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on the Afghan peace process.

“Pakistan brought Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Gave him state protocol. He gave threats to Afghanistan from here. He has been rejected by Afghans. PTM will resist attempts to impose decisions on Afghans from here. Only Afghans can decide their fate,” he said.   

PTM is a rights group that has called for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement within tribal areas. It has called for an end to “extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions,” according to reports.  

According to PTM members, at least 30,000 people from the two provinces – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan – have gone missing over the past 10 years. 

Previously, the PTM members have called on the international community and human rights defenders to assign a fact-finding committee to investigate the "systematic murders" of Pashtuns on both sides of the Durand Line.