DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Tribesmen loyal to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Mullah Nazeer have extended by 10 days the December 5 deadline for Mehsud tribesmen to leave Wana. The extension follows a jirga meeting of the tribal elders of the Ahmadzai tribe and Mullah Nazeer’s group.
The jirga headed by the Taliban commander for the Shakai area, Tahsil Khan, informed the participants that the extension of the deadline was only limited to the Shakai area.
A tribal leader who attended the jirga told The Express Tribune that most of the Mehsud tribesmen have already left the area. “The fresh deadline is for the few people living in the far-flung mountainous areas of Shakai who have to walk from there,” he said.
Hundreds of Mehsud tribesmen were forced to leave the Mehsud area and resettle in other areas including Wana, in the wake of a military operation against the TTP.
A Jirga of the Mehsud tribesmen had earlier on Wednesday asked the Ahmedzai tribe to extend the deadline for the tribesmen. The Mehsud jirga had also held meetings with officials of the political administration of South Waziristan in this regard.
Mehsud tribesmen, both internally displaced persons and militants, were asked by the jirga of the Ahmadzai and the Taliban commander Mullah Nazeer to leave the Wana area by December 5. The decision came after a suicide attack on Mullah Nazeer in Wana.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2012.
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All you displaced tribesmen (and tribeswomen and tribeschildren) are welcome to come and live in Karachi - the melting pot of cultures !!
@S: The article fails to tell where those people will be relocated. The most probable destination is DI Khan, a settled area part of Pakistan proper. It is obvious that they would then proceed to Karachi in search of better conditions and also because they have done so historically. The issue of tribals is cultural more than a lack of infrastructure and the culture is a direct result of the laws governing the region. Yes, they need to be integrated, but they can be better integrated by enforcing the same laws in their own land, rather than mass migration that hurts the settled areas. Btw, you are in denial if you believe TTP does not have wide-spread support in tribal areas, compared to the settled areas.
@Hammad, not sure if you understand the article, but in any case i disagree, they need to be integrated only then Pakistani laws will be applicable, you cant force anything on them, make better roads, connect with people and integrate. And that is the way to sort taliban out as well, not all tribal area is taliban, there are some brilliant and loyal people!
Let's keep the tribals inside the tribal areas, okay? I'm not being a racist, but the tribal areas need to be governed by the same laws as the rest of Pakistan for at least a decade before they can successfully assimilate with the rest of the country. Otherwise, we are going to have the same lawlessness as in the agencies. Karachi is clear warning.