K & P

Government arrests 22 tribesmen in "collective responsibility" punishment

Arrests came in response to abduction of eight officials of FATA Development Authority on Thursday

Reuters March 11, 2016

A file photo of tribesmen. PHOTO: AFP

WANA: Authorities on Friday arrested 22 tribesmen in South Waziristan region in a "collective responsibility" punishment a day after eight government officials were kidnapped, officials said.

The tribal areas, which include South Waziristan, are governed by colonial-era legislation under which relatives, tribesmen and neighbours of suspects can be arrested and detained for years without trial for a crime committed by another.

Eight officials of the FATA Development Authority (FDA), the government organisation for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, were kidnapped in South Waziristan on Thursday.

At gunpoint: Nine government employees abducted in South Waziristan

"We have arrested 22 tribesmen to put pressure for the release of the eight FDA officials as the kidnapping took place in their area and it is their collective responsibility to help authorities in the recovery," Masood Khan, a political officer, told Reuters on Friday.

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

The South Waziristan enclave on the Afghan border forms one-fifth of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and is governed under a system inherited from British colonialists.

Government-appointed political agents rule through the Pashtun tribes and collect and distribute revenue with little oversight. The people have limited rights.

21 militants killed in Shawal Valley

Decades of resentment felt by the population and the US bombing campaign on the Afghan border following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States spawned a generation of militants who used South Waziristan to launch assaults against the state and US-led forces in Afghanistan.

In 2009, Pakistan Army ordered the biggest offensive yet, pouring 40,000 troops into South Waziristan in a bid to tip the balance.

But the offensive displaced almost half a million people as homes, schools and hospitals were turned into hideouts by militants and meagre civic amenities were destroyed.

COMMENTS (2)

shafi | 8 years ago | Reply draconian law. these kind of tactics force more people to terrorism. this is not the solution at all. if any govt was sincere with FATA, they woul have taken some basic steps for a long term peace. 1. give them rights and treat them like Pakistanis 2. the amount of wealth spent on their destruction, spend half of that on infrastructure 3. declare education emergency 4. give them basic health facilities 5. listen to their grievances otherwise you pushing them further and further.

Brainy Bhaijan | 8 years ago | Reply It is the quickest way to retrieve the hostages. These taliban and alqueda types cannot stay ONE day in such areas with the local support of the people. Kidnapping is considered an acceptable occupation in these regions. The locals do not mind kidnapping non-locals and then selling them to the taliban for a quick profit. Any journalist who has reported from such regions would agree to my statement. The british were correct in making such laws.

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