Leaving Wana: Mehsud exit deadline extended till Dec 15
Most of the tribesmen have already left the area.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN:
Tribesmen loyal to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Mullah Nazeer have extended by 10 days the December 5 deadline for Mehsud tribesmen to leave Wana. The extension follows a jirga meeting of the tribal elders of the Ahmadzai tribe and Mullah Nazeer’s group.
The jirga headed by the Taliban commander for the Shakai area, Tahsil Khan, informed the participants that the extension of the deadline was only limited to the Shakai area.
A tribal leader who attended the jirga told The Express Tribune that most of the Mehsud tribesmen have already left the area. “The fresh deadline is for the few people living in the far-flung mountainous areas of Shakai who have to walk from there,” he said.
Hundreds of Mehsud tribesmen were forced to leave the Mehsud area and resettle in other areas including Wana, in the wake of a military operation against the TTP.
A Jirga of the Mehsud tribesmen had earlier on Wednesday asked the Ahmedzai tribe to extend the deadline for the tribesmen. The Mehsud jirga had also held meetings with officials of the political administration of South Waziristan in this regard.
Mehsud tribesmen, both internally displaced persons and militants, were asked by the jirga of the Ahmadzai and the Taliban commander Mullah Nazeer to leave the Wana area by December 5. The decision came after a suicide attack on Mullah Nazeer in Wana.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2012.
Tribesmen loyal to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Mullah Nazeer have extended by 10 days the December 5 deadline for Mehsud tribesmen to leave Wana. The extension follows a jirga meeting of the tribal elders of the Ahmadzai tribe and Mullah Nazeer’s group.
The jirga headed by the Taliban commander for the Shakai area, Tahsil Khan, informed the participants that the extension of the deadline was only limited to the Shakai area.
A tribal leader who attended the jirga told The Express Tribune that most of the Mehsud tribesmen have already left the area. “The fresh deadline is for the few people living in the far-flung mountainous areas of Shakai who have to walk from there,” he said.
Hundreds of Mehsud tribesmen were forced to leave the Mehsud area and resettle in other areas including Wana, in the wake of a military operation against the TTP.
A Jirga of the Mehsud tribesmen had earlier on Wednesday asked the Ahmedzai tribe to extend the deadline for the tribesmen. The Mehsud jirga had also held meetings with officials of the political administration of South Waziristan in this regard.
Mehsud tribesmen, both internally displaced persons and militants, were asked by the jirga of the Ahmadzai and the Taliban commander Mullah Nazeer to leave the Wana area by December 5. The decision came after a suicide attack on Mullah Nazeer in Wana.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2012.