Building pressure: Tribesmen protest drone strikes, NATO supplies
Say they will not let the containers pass through FATA if the US govt’s intrusions are not stopped.
Pakistan Peoples Party workers along with Ahmadzai tribesmen protest amidst tight security in Bannu. PHOTO: EXPRESS
BANNU/JAMRUD:
In a rally led by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Fakhar Azam Wazir, Ahmadzai tribesmen protested against drone strikes and the passage of Nato supplies in Bannu on Sunday.
A large number of police officials were deployed along the route to avoid any untoward situation. The procession left Domail and reached Link Road Chowk where PPP workers and Ahmadzai tribesmen shouted slogans against the US government and strikes conducted by them inside Pakistan.
External forces do not wish for peace in Pakistan, speakers addressed the protesters. They added, as soon as negotiations were about to start, the US and its allies disrupted the process by a drone strike which killed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Chief Hakimullah Mehsud.
Wazir maintained drone attacks have killed scores of innocent people. He appealed to the federal government to put an end to them and to halt Nato supplies which pass through the country.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Khyber Agency Chapter also protested on Sunday.
Led by PTI local leaders Aminzada Afridi and Jamal Afridi, hundreds of tribesmen and PTI activists in Jamrud raised placards and banners with slogans against the US strikes and Nato supplies routes. The march started around 10am when protesters blocked the Indus Highway for all kinds of traffic and marched from Jamrud Complex towards Bab-e-Khyber.
Addressing the activists, Aminzada maintained the attacks are against the sovereignty of Pakistan and must be stopped.
“Hundreds of tribesmen, including women and children, have lost their lives in drone strikes. It is time to put an end to them,” he said. Thousands of tribesmen from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas will participate in protests which PTI will hold if drone attacks are not halted, stated Aminzada.
“If drones are not stopped, Khyber Agency tribesmen will block the Nato supply line and not allow a single vehicle supplying goods to their troops to pass.”
Earlier, PTI had threatened to launch an agitation on November 20 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa if the US government’s aerial strikes are not halted. However, after Friday’s violence in Rawalpindi, PTI and its coalition partners decided on Sunday to postpone the protest. A new date will be decided soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2013.
In a rally led by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Fakhar Azam Wazir, Ahmadzai tribesmen protested against drone strikes and the passage of Nato supplies in Bannu on Sunday.
A large number of police officials were deployed along the route to avoid any untoward situation. The procession left Domail and reached Link Road Chowk where PPP workers and Ahmadzai tribesmen shouted slogans against the US government and strikes conducted by them inside Pakistan.
External forces do not wish for peace in Pakistan, speakers addressed the protesters. They added, as soon as negotiations were about to start, the US and its allies disrupted the process by a drone strike which killed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Chief Hakimullah Mehsud.
Wazir maintained drone attacks have killed scores of innocent people. He appealed to the federal government to put an end to them and to halt Nato supplies which pass through the country.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Khyber Agency Chapter also protested on Sunday.
Led by PTI local leaders Aminzada Afridi and Jamal Afridi, hundreds of tribesmen and PTI activists in Jamrud raised placards and banners with slogans against the US strikes and Nato supplies routes. The march started around 10am when protesters blocked the Indus Highway for all kinds of traffic and marched from Jamrud Complex towards Bab-e-Khyber.
Addressing the activists, Aminzada maintained the attacks are against the sovereignty of Pakistan and must be stopped.
“Hundreds of tribesmen, including women and children, have lost their lives in drone strikes. It is time to put an end to them,” he said. Thousands of tribesmen from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas will participate in protests which PTI will hold if drone attacks are not halted, stated Aminzada.
“If drones are not stopped, Khyber Agency tribesmen will block the Nato supply line and not allow a single vehicle supplying goods to their troops to pass.”
Earlier, PTI had threatened to launch an agitation on November 20 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa if the US government’s aerial strikes are not halted. However, after Friday’s violence in Rawalpindi, PTI and its coalition partners decided on Sunday to postpone the protest. A new date will be decided soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2013.