The residents of the militancy-hit Federally Administered Tribal Areas and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of
The recent killing of six militants in Buner district of NWFP by local people encouraged masses in other parts of the province and adjacent tribal belt to rise against militants and raise volunteer squads and ‘jirgas’ (tribal councils) to keep them at bay. This is something which the common tribesmen could never think of before the Taliban phenomenon.
Earlier, the people of the troubled areas were opposed to militancy but they were unable to publicly criticise them fearing the Taliban backlash.
On August 13, the residents of Buner district, who according to officials were 1,200 in number, chased six Taliban operatives and killed them in Shalbandi area of the district. The militants had attacked a police station in the district, killing eight policemen a few days before they faced the wrath of the people.
Soon after the Buner incident, several tribal councils met in other districts of NWFP wherein local tribal elders vowed to resist Taliban infiltration in their areas.
In Maidan town of
Similarly, tribal councils also met in Mardan, Swabi and other districts of the province and formed volunteer squads to resist the Taliban. The most recent such tribal squad was raised in Salarzai subdivision of Bajaur Agency that attacked a group of militants and killed one of them on August 26. Salarzai is considered one of the most volatile subdivisions of Bajaur Agency, where 32 persons including seven army troops and 23 suspected militants were killed in military operation on Wednesday. Two volunteers also died when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.
In the latest such move, a representative tribal council of the Mullahgori tribe of Jamrud subdivision of Khyber Agency on Wednesday claimed to have ousted all the militants belonging to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban
Apparently in a bid to avert a military operation in the area after kidnapping of
According to Haji Abdul Mannan, a member of the tribal council, the ‘jirga’ gave a two-hour deadline to the militants to leave the area and the latter complied with. He said the Mullahgori tribe was opposed to a military action against militants in the area because it would badly affect the local population.
Instead, he added, they decided to stop militants from operating in their area and therefore decided to raise a tribal force to check activities of militants.
On his part, head of the banned Lashkar-e-Islami organisation Mangal Bagh on Wednesday asked the government not to launch a military operation in Khyber Agency on the basis of the reports submitted by bureaucracy, as he believed it was unthinkable of the kidnapped Afghan envoy being brought to the Bara subdivision, as his men were vigilant to any anti-state activity in the area.
Talking to a group of media persons, Bagh said if the kidnappers ventured into Khyber Agency, they would not be spared and the government did not need to conduct a military operation for the purpose. “We will show no leniency to the kidnappers of Afghan envoy. They will be made an example to the world,” he vowed, adding that his organisation would take action against the abductors and their families if anybody in the agency was found involved in the crime.
“History is witness to the fact that tribesmen of Khyber Agency had neither been involved in terrorism and militancy nor attacked or harmed any government installation,” Mangal Bagh claimed.
Mangal Bagh, who heads a volunteer force and has been avoiding confronting the security forces for the past few months, urged the government to send a delegation to Khyber Agency to witness the ground realities rather than acting on reports submitted by bureaucracy. He said the government employees must work for welfare of the people of their respective areas to build an atmosphere of trust and confidence between the government and the tribesmen.
The tribal leader, who shuns to be called a militant, said the tribesmen were as peaceful as the rest of the citizens in
“My organisation has never fought against security forces. In fact, it has always supported the government in its initiatives for bringing about lasting peace to the area. We are patriotic citizens of
“After rise of the tribesmen against militancy, it is hoped that militants would find it difficult to establish their bases in the troubled tribal belt of
“This might also help in easing tension between the Pakistani and US governments because of incursions of the
The analyst was of the view that ouster of militants from the tribal belt might also lead to decrease in suicide bombings in interior parts of Pakistan because they would be struggling to find any safe haven to plan and mount such attacks.
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