Porous borders: 14 working with Afghan forces return

Say they are extremely poor, demand government to provide them with jobs.

PESHAWAR:

At least 14 young residents of Chitral district who had enlisted in Afghanistan’s security forces have returned home voluntarily.

On August 2, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa home and tribal affairs department had directed the commissioner of Malakand division to investigate the reported recruitment of desperate and unemployed young men from Chitral’s Kalash valley into the Afghan National Army (ANA).

Chitral District Coordination Officer (DCO) Rehmatullah Wazir confirmed that 14 residents of the Bamborit and Rambur areas of the Kalash Valley appeared before him. Wazir said about 20 others from the area were still working with the Afghan forces, adding that he had received assurances from local elders that these persons would return within a month.

Wazir maintained most of the people were working with the Afghan Border Police, with some doing menial jobs.

He said the ones who had returned would be interrogated by intelligence agencies, while notices would be issued to those who fail to return within the stipulated time and consequent action taken against them.

Those who appeared before the district administration on Saturday were identified as Qudratullah, Habibullah, Abdur Rashid, Suliman, Khalil, Ziaur Rehman, Barat, Abdul Wahab, Rehmatuddin, Mohammad Yousaf, Feroz Khan, Shafiqur Rehman, Musalmaan and Abdur Rashid.

They told authorities they were very poor and had gone to Afghanistan to seek appropriate compensation for their services. They also demanded the government to provide them with jobs.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2012.