Afridi assures support to Tirah affectees

CM tells Khyber Jirga military action isn't lasting solution

PESHAWAR:

An important jirga comprising elders and notables of Khyber tribal district was held at the Chief Minister's House in Peshawar under the chairmanship of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi.

The meeting reviewed the overall law and order situation in Khyber district and discussed in detail the problems being faced by families displaced from the Tirah Valley.

Addressing the jirga, the chief minister said the provincial government would not abandon the affectees of Tirah and would extend all possible assistance to them. He said the tribal people had made immense sacrifices for the country, leaving behind their homes and livelihoods, and these sacrifices could not be ignored.

The chief minister stated that a certain mindset did not want Pashtuns, particularly tribal people, to become part of the mainstream system, adding that the same mindset had failed to accept their existence for the past 75 years. He said negative propaganda was launched against him soon after he was elected chief minister, which he described as unfortunate, but added that public support had defeated all such narratives.

He stressed that all political parties and schools of thought in K-P were united in the view that military operations were not a permanent solution. While reiterating the desire to eliminate terrorism and restore peace, he questioned the effectiveness of repeated operations, saying decisions taken behind closed doors would not yield results if imposed on Tirah without consensus.