Three-day curfew: NW residents remain stranded in Bannu

Markets, public and private schools closed since Friday.

MIRANSHAH:

The curfew imposed in North Waziristan (NW) since Friday has created a myriad of problems for resident days ahead of Eidul Azha.

“I took a relative for treatment to Peshawar and came to Bannu on Friday, since then I am waiting for the curfew to be lifted so I can go home,” said Jamal Din Khan, a resident of North Waziristan.

Hazratullah, a student currently living in Bannu, told The Express Tribune that he was going home for vacations but was asked to return when he reached the Kajuree checkpoint on Bannu-Miranshah Road. “I was happy that I was going to meet my parents and spend Eid with them, but now I cannot go home because of the curfew. I hope it is lifted till Monday,” he said.

Another resident, Syed Rehman, who came to Bannu to buy a sacrificial animal has been stuck there since then. “We waited at the Kajuree checkpoint from 8am to 3pm on Sunday and in the end they told us to go back. There was a huge traffic jam, but everyone was asked to return.”

Resident Mir Ali told The Express Tribune that movement on main roads is restricted in North Waziristan, while markets remain closed. However, people are free to move around in villages and towns. They go to the mosques to offer prayers and to small village shops, but they are not allowed to go on the main roads.

Officials in the political administration said the curfew would remain imposed until further notice from authorities.

According to a source, a jirga of tribal elders tried to meet with political administration officials to discuss the issue, but they refused to negotiate.

The order was given after a group of Uzbek fighters attacked a security checkpoint on Friday. The incident was followed by a suicide attack.  Security forces later asked residents to vacate their houses and an operation was launched to target militant hideouts.

Public and private institutions and schools have also remained closed since then and daily activities remain suspended.

Usually there is a routine curfew in the area from 6am to 8pm, which the political administration announces through the local FM radio channels.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd,  2012.