IDPs demand repatriation to Tirah valley

BARA:

A local political alliance in the Bara tehsil of the Khyber tribal district has demanded that the government immediately repatriate internally displaced people of the scenic Tirah valley to their respective hometowns.

The All Siyasi Ittihad, whose members have been protesting at the Bab-e-Khyber in the Jamrud area for the past three months said that the government has yet to address their demands.

The protesters stated that around 20,000 of Tirah residents were forced to relocate from their homes in the wake of rising militancy in the valley which straddles the Afghan border and the subsequent military operation to push them out.

Ever since, he said, these people have been living as IDPs since then, they said. They further said that the fight against militancy left their houses, mosques and markets destroyed. They said the people of Kokikhel tribe were not declared as IDPs which was an injustice with them despite suffering so many hardships for peace. They urged the government to immediately make arrangements for repatriations of the IDPs of Tirah valley.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2020.