Reclaiming Swat: Influential peace jirga member escapes attack

Nepki Khel Aman Jirga’s general-secretary is in stable condition.

SWAT: A senior official of one of Swat’s more influential peace jirgas narrowly escaped a drive-by hand-grenade attack on Saturday night, which left him and his two companions wounded.

Kareemul Hadi, who is affiliated with the Awami National Party leader and is the general-secretary of the Nepki Khel Aman Jirga, was attacked in Kanju in the town of Kabal, according to local police.

The Nepki Khel Aman Jirga, the largest public jirga in Kabal, has been on the militants’ hit list as eight active members have been killed so far. The jirga has actively supported security forces and also operates a voluntary militia force, which guards their respective areas during the night.

At the time of attack, Hadi was accompanied by Professor Riaz Ahmed, controller of Swat’s Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, and Jafar Ali Khan alias Akhundzada. The three men were on their routine evening walk when some unidentified assailants, riding a car, hurled a hand-grenade at them. Police vans took the injured men to hospital, where sources said Akhundzada was in critical condition.

Ironically, Hadi was attacked the day the inspector-general of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police was visiting the Swat valley. “Police and security forces are trying their best to ensure peace in the area but such incidents can occur the same way they are occurring in the rest of the country,” said Kanju SHO Amjad Khan.

Men of courage

But Hadi and other members of the jirga are undeterred from their cause despite this fresh attack on one of their members.

“Those who are against the jirga’s work ... we tell them clearly, that they can never daunt us. We are ready to make every sacrifice for our land and will never let the terrorists succeed in their anti-state mission,” Hadi told The Express Tribune from his hospital bed.

The jirga’s spokesperson Advocate Feroz Shah also reiterated the jirga’s support for security forces. “We are against those who are destroying schools and hospitals, attacking public places and sabotaging peace in our area. Terrorists and anti-state elements cannot discourage us.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th,  2011.