Outflows from Tirah: Fresh threats emerge as Taliban gain more ground

PESHAWAR:

“We have resisted insurgents for over seven years, but this attack was unusual,” said Sadat Afridi, spokesman for the banned outfit Ansarul Islam (AI), after much of Khyber Agency’s well-known Tirah Valley fell to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Laskhar-e-Islam (LeI).

“There were foreign fighters … Uzbeks, Chechens … almost 3,000 of them,” claimed Afridi. “We ran out of ammunition and other supplies,” he added.

Geographically, TTP now controls over 90% of the valley, including key routes leading towards the Orakzai and Kurram agencies – routes which were earlier cleared using surgical operations.

Action under these conditions seems increasingly vital, a senior security official told The Express Tribune. “The tribal militia could not withstand the last attack.”

The tribal areas north of Peshawar –Mohmand and Bajaur agencies - have been a success story in comparison to the Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency, which has continued to trouble the security forces. They believe the area houses a nexus of militants supported by drug traffickers and kidnappers.

Meanwhile, thousands of tribesmen forced out of their houses in the valley by militants undertake days of travelling, either by foot or mules if they are lucky, through rugged terrain, only to be confronted by another challenge.

An official of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas’ Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) said the number of displaced families registered by Tuesday (March 19) is as high as 4,290 or close to 32,916 individuals. The tribesmen reached Peshawar via the Kurram and Orakzai agencies.

The explosion at a food distribution point in Jalozai camp in Nowshera has raised additional fears over the safety of refugees. Authorities say that placing the displaced from Tirah in the same camp as those from Bara could exacerbate the situation in Nowshera further. Keeping them in Peshawar is equally troubling, they add, since several tribal elders and militia members have been targeted in the city previously.

“We are engaged in talks with the UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) but efforts to register the displaced people have been delayed since we are taking certain precautionary measures for their safety,” he maintained.

A security official from Orakzai Agency placed the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at around 45,000, adding that more of them continued to pour in.

On the ground, the battle continues.

The AI spokesman confirmed that two suicide attacks had been carried out against TTP. He did not say if the attackers belonged to his group, though.

“I have no reports from the Shura confirming whether our men carried out the attack… the battle is being fought  among several groups, all of which are ready to face death,” said Afridi.

He added that his group was adamant toward avenging the losses inflicted upon it and would not give up.

Clashes between TTP and AI erupted on January 26. The TTP had been backed by LeI, while AI enjoyed the support of the pro-government Kamar militia.

On March 13, TTP militants attacked the AI stronghold in the Narhao area, killing the group’s chief Haji Samar Gul and torching around 15 houses. With the area under TTP control, AI leader Qari Mehboobul Haq and his deputy Izzatullah Humkhyal were forced to move to an undisclosed location, accompanied by 25 AI fighters.

On March 16, just three days before the entire valley fell to the TTP, AI spokesman Sadat Afridi held a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, suggesting that the Orakzai Agency and the tribal areas surrounding Peshawar be handed to the group to secure them from TTP militants.


Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2013.