Slain men: Locals demand compensation for 21 Levies personnel

PESHAWAR: Residents of Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar have demanded monetary compensation for the families of the 21 slain Levies personnel. Some of the men had not been paid salaries since the last six months and the locals demand the payment of these dues to the victims’ families. Malik Rehman from Kandao Asho Khel, FR Peshawar, said: “What do you expect from a force who has not been paid for six months. What fighting spirit and morale will they have to fight against militants?” He added that the victims were also short of ammunition at the time of the attack.  Another tribal elder demanded the aid package for martyrs for the murdered men, but said they could not say anything publically for fear of provoking the political administration. “Yes they had not been paid for months, now our demand is a compensation package for them,” he said.

On Friday, civil society organisations had demanded that the families of the victims be given Rs2 million as aid.

Taliban insurgents executed 21 tribal policemen on December 30, in a string of attacks on three security checkpoints in FR Peshawar. The bodies of the personnel were found dumped in a nullah near Koi Hassan Khel area.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2013.