Khasadars boycott duties for not being paid

Most sensitive crossing point on Pak-Afghan border remains unmanned

DI KHAN: Over 1,400 Khasadar force personnel in South Waziristan have boycotted their duties in protest against non-payment of salaries for the last nine months.

With this step, the Angoor Adda check post, the most sensitive crossing point on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, remains unmanned.

Khasadar Havaldar Rasool Jan told The Express Tribune, “We have sacrificed our lives in standing against militants in the area. We have protected the land with our blood, but are still being neglected by the government.”

Jan said that they had notified their seniors about the non-payment of salaries, but no action was taken to address their concerns.

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“This is the reason behind taking this extreme step of relinquishing our duties and vacating our posts on the border,” Jan added.

Recently, the Khasadar force had also announced boycott of the polio campaign across the seven merged districts of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) over non-payment of salaries.

It is not a hidden fact that the Khasadar and Levies forces personnel always remained on the frontline in protecting the country against militants and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as well as the Afghan forces.

Previously, the Levies and Khasadar forces had demanded merger with the police, but no development has taken place on that front.