Kalakhel tribe pressed to battle militancy

Tribesmen have been stopped from working in coal mines.

PESHAWAR:

Authorities have stopped Kalakhel tribesmen from extracting coal from mines in their area in order to push them to fight Taliban, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Kalakhel is located close to the semi-tribal Darra Adamkhel area of Frontier Region (FR) Kohat and Khyber Agency and falls in the limits of FR Peshawar. Sources revealed that this area was previously being used by militants belonging to the tribal areas for their entry to Peshawar.

Kalakhel tribesmen had formed a peace committee a while ago and were reluctant to take up arms against militants for a variety of reasons. However following the closure of the mines, the tribesmen resolved to fight the militants and started patrolling the area. They have not formed a lashkar yet, The Express Tribune was told.

A mine owner belonging to Kalakhel confirmed the closure of the mines but he said that the mine was not closed by the authorities but by the peace committee due to tribal differences.

A former member of the peace committee when contacted refused to discuss this issue, saying he had resigned from the committee a year ago and hence was not in a position to discuss the matter.

Sources however said that the militants have increased their activities in the area while the last attack on a house in Mattani Bazaar was aimed at a local who helped the police in setting up a check-post in the area. The check-post too was bombed by the militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2011.