Khyber elders urged to keep their areas free of terrorists

Tribesmen say they never <br /> allowed terrorists, will maintain <br /> same policy.

WARSAK: Khyber Agency Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah warned his area was extremely sensitive as it shared a border with Afghanistan and Mohmand Agency and could be used by terrorists to launch another terrorist attack like the one at Army Public School.

He was addressing a jirga of Malogori and Shalmani tribes at Swat Scouts headquarters in Warsak. Shah said the purpose of the jirga was to ring alarm bells over the possibility.  The participants paid tribute to the APS victims and prayed for their departed souls

The political agent said a tehsil-level jirga has been summoned in Shalman, Khyber Agency where the assistant political agent and other officials will be present. He said although this area had remained peaceful recently, terrorists planned to use it for their activity. Shah said it was the responsibility of tribespeople to safeguard their homeland.

He pointed out the presence of terrorists could result in a government-sanctioned operation and result in hardships for the tribespeople. Shah asked tribespeople to urge their prayer leaders and others not to propagate against the state and not collect money to fund any terrorist activity.



The jirga was addressed by tribal elder Malik Haji Manan, Malik Fazal, Malik Sher Haider and others. All of them assured the government they never allowed a single terrorist on their land in the past and would maintain the same policy. The jirga was held a day before the APS attack anniversary in an area where it is believed the terrorists had stayed before launching the attack.

Tight security

Security has been tightened around the Pak-Afghan border on the first anniversary of the Army Public School massacre so that any terrorist activity could be foiled.

This was stated on Tuesday by Swat Scouts Commandant Colonel Naeem who was also part of the same jirga. The commandant told The Express Tribune the army had achieved great successes against the terrorists and was vigilant around the clock. For his part, he vowed the scouts would never allow anyone to attack the Pakistani soil in future.

Naeem told the jirga that terrorists were coming in from Afghanistan, but their sympathisers and facilitators were in Pakistan. He said it was imperative to keep a close check on these individuals and urged locals to cooperate in this regard.

The commandant said the primary objective of the jirga was to consult locals about the security threat to their land. He hoped the tribespeople would wake up and never allow terrorists to use their soil to carry out their evil designs.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th,  2015.