Residents flee FR Peshawar in fear

PESHAWAR: Scores of people belonging to the Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar have left their homes fearing a military operation after militants entered the area in the outskirts of the provincial capital, residents told The Express Tribune on Thursday. The locals put the number of those who left their homes at 40,000, but the authorities refute this claim.

Arif, a resident of Bora village in FR Peshawar said that they had left their homes some 20 days back, following increased militant presence in the area.

He said that nearly the entire population of Bora and Pastawana villages, which was around 40,000 had left their homes. “Most of our people in are now in different parts of Peshawar, Karachi and Shamshatu IDP Camp,” he said.

He said that nearly 30 percent have left for Karachi and only some old people had stayed back in village to look after their belongings. Arif said that the militants were back within days of a military operation was concluded in March this year and started patrolling in Bora village. He quoted a Talib as saying that in February their Taliban commander for FR Peshawar Qari Ayub had stopped them from resisting security forces.

The local also said that the villagers were having a tough time in finding houses and shelter in the extreme heat while accommodating more than a dozen people was also a problem for host families. He said that displacement had also affected studies of their children.

A resident who did not wanted to be named said that a large number of militants had moved to the area and that foreigners were also present in the area. He said that a Talib commander come to their village mosque on Friday and assured locals those militants would not do any harm to locals and not destroy government property.

Israr Azam a resident of Hassankhel area said that FR Peshawar area was inhibited by four tribes of Ashukhel, Janakawr, Hassankhel and Jwaki. He said that militants were in the Bora and Pastawana areas of Jwaki tribe.

On February 24 this year, the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) had launched operation ‘Spring Cleaning’ in the area and claimed to kill 38 militants. District Coordination Officer (DCO) Peshawar Siraj Ahmed Khan when asked termed the local version as “gossip.” He said that earlier some militants had come to the area and “action” was taken against them.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2010.