Apex committee to hold talks with PTM

Manzoor had been living in Bannu Cantt after being displaced during the military operation

PESHAWAR: The Apex Committee of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa formed a high-powered jirga, comprising politicians and local elders, which will hold talks with the Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), it was revealed on Tuesday.

The Jirga members also includes the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Apex Committee held its meeting on April 18, 2018.

33% reduction in Checkposts in Fata

The military plans to remain in the second tier while the security is being handed over to the civil administration in Fata and Malakand division “we will remain in the background for a period of three months for any location that has been handed over to the civil armed forces” a senior military official said during a briefing.

As of June 2016 there were 399 check posts in Fata, which by April 2018 have been reduced to 353, The plan for the future is to further reduce these checkposts to 306 by June 2018 down to 270 by December this year.  Which is a 33% reduction in checkposts.

In Malakand division, there were a total of 70 checkposts in June 2016, by April 2018 the checposts have been reduced to 31, which will be further reduced to 25 by this June and only 7 will be left by December 2018.

Demining in Fata

There are 42 teams that have been deployed in Fata to defuse IED’s in the area, 64% of the demining process was completed which shows that 158 minefields were cleared out of total of 246. “There have been no mines left back by the military” said the Corps Commander Peshawar “these are remnants of the terrorists that fled they should not be put into the militaries account” said Lt Gen Butt. “it takes 2 hours along with hectic equipment to clear an area of 1 square kilometer.”