Around 30 families of North Waziristan crossed the Ghulam Khan Border into Pakistan on Friday after spending seven years in Afghanistan. These families were displaced by the military operation Zarbe Azab in 2015 and were living in Khost province of Afghanistan ever since.
Official sources told The Express Tribune that a special registration point has been established at the border where all the families are registered and verified through NADRA.
Deputy Commissioner North Waziristan tribal district Shahid Ali Khan told media that on the first day of the repatriation from Afghanistan around 30 families reached Pakistan who were received by provincial minister Iqbal Wazir and district administration.
“All the Pakistani families living in Afghanistan are being relocated to Pakistan where they would be accommodated in Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Peshawar and DI Khan and will be sent to their ancestral towns once their villages are cleared by the security forces,” he said.
District Health Officer (DHO) Hafizullah Dawar informed on this occasion that a well-equipped field hospital has been established at Ghulam Khan in order to facilitate these families.
Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said that each family will be provided Rs12,000 per month assistance and Rs8,000 will be provided for the purchase of edible items.
“We have made available transportation and food at Ghulam Khan Border for the returning families,” he said, adding that all families will be provided tents and hygiene kits.
Read Waziristanis start returning from Khost
On the other hand several people were injured when two tribes Edik and Bora Khel clashed over a 110-year-old land dispute in Mir Ali Tehsil of North Waziristan. Two school children were also among the injured as a mortar shell landed in Government Primary School Irfan Kot.
Several others were injured when mortar shells landed inside the houses. This has forced the authorities to close down all the education institution in the area which had been reopened only recently.
“Dozens of fighters from both the sides have taken positions but there is no sign of intervention from the district administration to stop the conflict,” said a local resident while talking to The Express Tribune.
“A Jirga of local clans including Kabul Khel, Tori Khel and Dawar is trying to calm the situation down but the negotiations have failed to yield results so far,” he said, adding that the role of district police was also highly questionable and because of it there is no writ of the state in the area.
Local residents demanded of the government to take notice of the situation as clashes between different clans over land disputes were a regular occurrence due to inaction of local police and district administration.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2021.
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