Picking up the broken pieces: IDPs return to ruined houses, dried wells in Eidak

Locals selling bricks from their damaged homes which were also looted

PESHAWAR: There is little joy in coming home to ruined houses and schools in North Waziristan. Even the provisions they stored before leaving as “the displaced” for Bannu and other areas have been taken away.

“One can see nothing but ruins – broken doors and windows, everything has been plundered,” an Eidak resident told The Express Tribune what he saw when he returned after over a year and a half in Peshawar as an internally displaced person. His other family members went to Bannu while some are working in the United Arab Emirates.

Coming back to almost nothing

As there could be no one left behind to guard their belongings—what with a military operation in the area—everything inside their multi-storeyed houses was taken away.

Repatriated IDPs lack blankets to cover themselves at night; there were dozens but were stolen after residents were forced to flee. Now they do not even have warm clothes.

Heavy goods such as washing machines and refrigerators are also missing. The locals say the looters and plunderers did not even leave crockery behind.

One family had stored 25 maunds of wheat before fleeing for Bannu in June 2014 because the harvesting season had recently completed. When they returned, the stored crop was no longer there.

Officials in the political administration confirmed belongings were missing, saying unidentified assailants took advantage of the situation.

Deserted

Dawar tribespeople from Mirali and Miranshah areas of North Waziristan have also complained about their destroyed houses.

A tribal elder, who is part of 12-member jirga, negotiating repatriation with the civil and military authorities, said, “The higher-ups said a new bazaar with around 200 shops would be constructed in Gora Qabristan, Miranshah.”

He added the reconstruction of shops and commercial buildings would be allowed after plans are confirmed.

But at the moment, areas that were once bustling with activity appear a barren desert, punctuated with the ruins of war.

“It’s a completely different face of Mirali Bazaar – once a business hub,” an eyewitness said.

All dried up

Dawar tribespeople also complained potable water and health facilities if previously insufficient were now non-existent. Almost all open wells have dried up.

Hospitals destroyed during operations are not yet functional. Many schools and health units in Waziristan were used by militants as compounds while others were used as torture centres.

An official said houses and other properties demolished were the ones where security forces found explosives and weapons. Similarly all the houses and buildings owned by militants were also demolished, he said.



But nothing is useless in a place where nothing useful has been left to exist; bricks from damaged hosues are being sold like hot cakes in Mirali and Miranshah. In brick kilns, a thousand bricks are sold for Rs8,000 to 9,000, but in Mirali and Miranshah, the same quantity is sold at Rs3,000 – second-hand.

Plans of repatriation

As per officials familiar with the matter, repatriation to Eidak, Khadi, Hakim Khel, Mubarak Shah in Mirali subdivision and Tappi of Miranshah has been completed.

An official said 4,100 families to Eidak, 1,800 to Khadi, 860 to Hakim Khel, 600 to Mubarak Shah and 1200 to Tappi have repatriated. Now repatriation of around 475 families to Karam Kot is in progress.

The government has not yet announced the repatriation of IDPs to Mirali and its surrounding villages like Hurmaz, Essori, Mosaki, Asokhel, Eppi and Haiderkhel.

During the military action, the government succeeded in constructing an over 75-kilometre-long Bannu to Ghulam Khan Road at an estimated cost of around Rs6 billion. The project is another trade route between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th,  2016.