Bajaur Agency limps back to normalcy as night-time curfew lifted

The curfew had been imposed in May 2008 during an army operation in the are.

KHAR: Signs of peace and normalcy limped back to the troubled Bajaur Agency when security forces lifted a five year long night time curfew on Friday.

The curfew was imposed in the agency when the military started an operation against militants in May 2008. No one was allow to move during night. Business activities beyond evening too had been halt in the agency after the curfew was imposed.

Security forces Sector Commander North, Brigadier Haidar talking to journalists on Friday, said that the curfew is being lifted as part of efforts to restore normalcy in the district. He said that the move would allow business activities to continue till late hours of the evening.

“The transport facilities would also be available and now everyone can move freely in the area” the sector Commander told the journalists.

“We completely eliminated extremist elements and writ of the government has been re-established in the area,” he said, adding that the agency was now firmly under the control of security forces with units deployed in every corner of the district.

Member of National Assembly Akhundzada Chitan, tribal elders social activists, local political leaders appreciated this move of the security forces and added that with the curfew now lifted, business activities in the agency would bloom while tribesmen would be able to fulfill their needs during night time.

The move comes almost a month after security forces formally ended the Bajaur operation.