Postmarked Bagh: Entering Tirah in the shadow of success

After security forces wrested the valley from militants, displaced tribesmen slowly make their way back.

TIRAH:

Glancing down from the helicopter as it flies over Sanda Pal en route to Tirah Valley from Ghiljo, Orakzai Agency, it is easy to understand why militants chose Tirah as a safe haven after 9/11.

The tall mountains carpeted with pine trees conceal tricky passes and provide natural hideouts.

Whoever captures the mountains first gets a strategic edge, making it near impossible for boots to hit the ground. A helicopter cannot reach the altitude needed to fly above the mountains, making anyone flying into the valley easy pickings for those aiming the rockets. Treacherous weather can make the journey all the more difficult.

A valley of Afridi tribesmen, Tirah is surrounded by hills on all sides and the soil is rich for both fruit trees and cannabis. Three smaller valleys stitched together form what is commonly referred to as Tirah.

Rajgul Valley, connected to Dwatoi in Jamrud subdivision, is inhabited by Kuki Khel tribesmen, an Afridi sub-clan. It takes almost three days to reach the valley by foot or on a mule. Waran Valley connects Bara to Tirah through rough rocky terrain. The third, Maidan Valley, is known as the headquarters of Tirah and is administratively under Bara subdivision.

Tirah Valley touches Orakzai Agency at Sanda Pal, Landikotal as well as Afghanistan at Nangarhar province, and in more than one ways is sequestered from the world.

There is no electricity; those who feel the need use generators. It would seem all that connects Tirah to those beyond the valley is a line of telephone poles routing calls through a small exchange in Maidan.

Locating Bagh

Every area has a pulse, measuring it gives an idea of whether the body is in a state of stasis or acceleration. For Tirah Valley, that place is Bagh. Located in Maidan, at the bottom of Tirah, Bagh has high strategic value. Towering mountains provide it cover on all sides. Bagh is compact but densely populated. Rough estimates give it a population larger than the rest of Tirah.

It takes an hour to cover six kilometres from one end of Maidan into Bagh. A spine-rattling ride down an unpaved single carriageway – it takes a four wheel drive manned by someone skilled in navigating an obstacle course.

The structures inside Bagh are built in rows, using locally made cement blocks and red mud obtained from the mountains. Most of these are single storey houses with watchtowers. All houses are built around the Al Badr Markaz – a three-storey compound flanked by a once beautiful mosque and vast fields of cannabis.

The compounds within the Markaz can accommodate more than 2,000 people in its 100 rooms – some connected to concealed alleys and sub jails. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is said to have housed ‘violators’ and those considered ‘anti-Taliban’ in these makeshift prisons.

South of Al Badr Markaz lies Haider Kandao, a steep mountain. According to locals, a sniper on Haider Kandao can take down hundreds, preventing access to the heart of Tirah.

North of Bagh, a towering mountain gives access to Kismat Sanghar while Dre Stanai, another mountain, stands closer to Afghanistan. Dre Stanai has three peaks and, again, local hearsay claims whoever wrests control of the peaks can rule all of Tirah. The unpaved road which leads from Sanda Pal, Orakzai comes to a halt at a checkpoint near Al Badr Markaz. This checkpoint monitors the road as it goes deeper into Dre Stanai.

From AI to TTP to
Pakistan Army

Maidan was under the control of Ansarul Islam (AI) till March 16. In 2012 skirmishes between banned outfits TTP and AI escalated and on March 16 around 1,300 TTP militants backed by foreign fighters captured Haider Kandao, Kismat Sanghar and Dre Stanai from AI militants.

The TTP blocked the route to Orakzai and started descending into Bagh, forcing the AI to flee from Bagh through hidden passages in mountains.

On March 19, the TTP and Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) militants led by Mangal Bagh captured the Markaz from AI and hoisted the black and white striped Taliban flag on it.

Nearly three thousand people living near the Markaz had to vacate their houses thereafter. But they were trapped without access to Sanda Pal, Orakzai as the terrain made all other routes difficult for entire families to navigate. On March 20, LI and TTP started torching the houses of local tribesmen and most of Maidan was demolished. Only the Markaz and mosque survived.

Khaniullah, who lives near Bagh, recollects his house was first looted and then torched by the TTP and LI. He told The Express Tribune though people knew the TTP had captured all surrounding areas, they had faith “their Markaz” would remain in the hands of the AI chief Izzatullah Hamkhyal.

But at 11pm on March 19, AI men guarding the compound raised the alarm that TTP militants were coming to storm the Markaz. “They came like a flood and the Markaz and subsequently Tirah fell to the TTP and LI.”

On May 28, security forces advanced into the valley with the help of locals and a 22-day operation followed. Later on June 20, the military reported most of Tirah was free of TTP, LI and foreign fighters, and hoisted the Pakistan flag on the Markaz.

Though a far cry from establishing the writ of the government, tribesmen are slowly returning to Tirah Valley with the help of security forces. Thousands still remain in Jalozai Camp for the internally displaced, eager to go back to whatever is left of ‘home’.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2013.