Mohmand Jirga seeks action against terrorism

Says law and order is responsibility of state

MOHMAND:

Thousands of tribesmen attended a grand Jirga against rising terrorism in the Mohmand tribal district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Thursday.

The call for the Jirga was given by Mohamand Political Alliance and attended by tribal elders, politicians, workers of all parties as well as civil society.

The one-point agenda was peace in the region and the participants carried white flags.

MPA Nisar Mohmand, MNA Sajid Khan and Maulana Khanzaib of Awami National Party (ANP) participated in the Jirga.

Thousands of locals attended the Jirga despite heavy downpour and extreme cold.

The participants demanded of the provincial government to take action against terrorism and empower police to deal with militancy.

“Terrorists have once against successfully regrouped in the tribal districts and across much of K-P and it is evident from the successful attacks at police.

This is not acceptable to local residents who don’t want to see another bloody insurgency on their soil,” said the speakers.

They said that police should be given a free hand to deal with terrorists because terrorism has hit the local economy hard and hundreds have been killed in the past one and a half decade.

The Jirga participants blocked the Bajaur Road for all kinds of vehicular traffic for more than four hours, causing great inconvenience to the general public in the heavy rainfall.

Speakers also mentioned that there was an alarming rise in the extortion cases across the tribal districts as well as K-P without inviting any attention from the quarters concerned which was unfortunate.

“In the past tribesmen fought against terrorism by taking arms but after the merger it is the responsibility of the state to establish order in the ex-Fata,” they said, adding that lawlessness, inflation and joblessness had been out of control of government.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2023.