K-P adviser forms jirga for check post incident

Jirga will meet today in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Adviser to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister on Merged Districts Ajmal Wazir has formed a nine-member Jirga to address the May 25 Khar Kamar check post incident.

The adviser visited Miram Shah on Sunday and met the elders of North Waziristan where he agreed to form the Jirga.

The Jirga comprises tribal elders Malak Nasrullah Khan, Malak Khan Zeb Khan, Malak Shah Nawaz Khan Madakhel, Malak Khan Marjan Dardoni, Malak Habibullah Darpakhel, Malak Jan Faraz Khan Dardoni, Malak Mir Qadar Khan Darpakhel, Malak Ghulam Khan Madarkhel and Malak Peer Aqal Zaman Tapi Dawar.

The adviser and the newly formed body agreed to find ways to maintain peace in North Waziristan.

The Jirga also distributed compensation cheques to a few affected families. The adviser said the Jirga will meet on Monday in Peshawar.

Wazir added that he was aware of tribal customs and norms to settle disputes. “The tribal elders will be kept on board for peace as well as development of the merged districts.”

The development comes in the wake of the May 26 incident in which the Pakistan Army accused a group of people – led by MNAs Ali Wazir and Mohsin Javed Dawar  – of assaulting the Kharqamar check post in Boyya, North Waziristan.

The military said the group was trying to forcibly secure the release of a terrorist facilitator and that the protesters' aggression triggered an exchange of fire which resulted in multiple casualties.

"Troops at the check post exercised maximum restraint in the face of provocation and direct firing on the post. Due to firing of the group, five army soldiers got injured. In exchange of fire, three individuals who attacked the post lost their lives and 10 got injured," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Following the incident, another PTM leader and parliamentarian, Ali Wazir, was taken into custody along with several other activists.

Consequently, Wazir was produced in an anti-terrorism court in Bannu on Monday and was remanded in custody of the Counter-Terrorism Department for eight days.