Surgical strikes: 30 militants die in Waziristan air raids

Ahmadzai tribesmen of Wana sub-division reiterate their pledge to honour the 2007 peace agreement.

MIRAMSHAH/ DERA ISMAIL KHAN:

Surgical air strikes continue against hideouts of suspected militants in the tribal belt. Warplanes carried out sorties in North and South Waziristan agencies Tuesday morning, killing as many as 30 militants, according to military sources.

Fighter jets bombed the hideouts of suspected militants in Prayghar and Razan Nala areas of Pasht Ziarat in Shawal Valley, military sources said. The areas where the air raids were conducted are situated on the confluence of borders between North and South Waziristan agencies.

Simultaneously, air strikes were also carried out in Ghariom village of North Waziristan, military sources said. They claimed that at least 30 militants were killed in these bombing missions. On February 20, at least 15 suspected militants were killed in air strikes in Datta Khel and Shawal areas.

Local tribesmen are looking at these strikes as a prelude to a military operation in the region. Such fears have triggered an exodus from the region as hundreds of tribesmen are shifting to neighbouring districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak and DI Khan. Some families are also migrating to the Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces of neighbouring Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, a 120-member Aman Committee of the Ahmadzai tribe assured the political administration of South Waziristan that they would abide by the 2007 peace agreement with the government.

The committee, comprising local religious scholars and tribal elders, met the region’s political agent, Islam Zeb, at the Wana Scouts camp on Tuesday to reiterate that the peace agreement would not be violated.

The political agent told the jirga that the Ahmadzai tribe would have to honour the 2007 agreement and deny sanctuary to anyone who might undermine peace in Wana sub-division of South Waziristan.

The jirga assured the political agent that the Ahmadzai tribe would help the government maintain peace in Wana sub-division.

The agreement was signed in 2007 when the Mullah Nazir-led faction of Taliban expelled Uzbek fighters from Wana sub-division.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2014.