No breakthrough in govt-TTP Tirah talks as both sides refuse to budge

Tribal elders reject evacuation as jirgas collapse, warning they'll resist displacement

BARA:

The ongoing series of jirgas between the government-backed tribal elders and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ended without producing positive results.

Triabl elders said that neither side is willing to meet the other’s demands and made it clear that residents of Tirah valley will not accept evacuation orders or voluntary relocation in the event of a military operation.

President of the Bara Political Alliance, Hashim Khan Afridi, told The Express Tribune that multiple mediation jirgas involving senior tribal and political elders from the district were held to resolve the standoff, but they produced no breakthrough.

“The jirgas between the government and the Taliban were convened repeatedly, but they failed,” he said.

According to participants, the Taliban insist that Tirah valley is their territory and that they will not withdraw; instead they demand implementation of Sharia in the area.

Read More: Tensions rise as Pakistan warns Afghan Taliban over TTP, BLA safe havens

Government on the other hand, refused to allow TTP men to stay in the valley and control the areas for implementing their own version of Sharia. This has cleared way for another military operation against TTP in the mountainous area.

In response, leaders of the Afridi tribes held a grand jirga at central Bagh and issued a strongly worded statement rejecting displacement.

JUI district chief and senior leader Maulana Hazrat Khan, speaking for the jirga, said the people of Tirah categorically refuse to leave their homes. “We may die, but we will not abandon our homes, martyrdom in our land, among our families, will be a matter of pride for us,” he said. He added that the community’s decision against displacement is unanimous.

Maulana Hazrat Khan appealed to provincial and federal representatives to carry the message to higher authorities, specifically naming Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, MNA Iqbal Afridi and MPA Abdul Ghani Afridi, and urging them to inform Islamabad and Peshawar that the people of Tirah will not accept relocation.

The jirga also warned district administration and security agencies not to attempt to create any consent for evacuation. “Any local person who vacates his house will be considered a common enemy of the Afridi nation and severe action will be taken against him,” Maulana Hazrat Khan declared.

Maulana Mustaqim Haqqani, head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) Bara, reinforced the stance, saying Afridi tribesmen would prefer death to dishonor and that no local will be permitted to leave his home.

The announcement comes amid growing anxiety over security and the prospect of mass displacement in the area. Tribal leaders and public representatives who took part in the jirga backed the statements of Maulana Hazrat Khan and Maulana Mustaqim Haqqani, underscoring the region’s firm refusal to accept relocation.

There was no immediate response from either government officials or representatives of the TTP to the jirga’s declaration. The situation remains tense as mediation efforts have so far failed to produce an agreement acceptable to both sides.