‘Bogus’ threats: TTP pamphlet against me is fake says Khyber MNA

Leaflet warns of attacks against Alhaj Shahji Gul Afridi, warns tribesmen to stay away from him.

JAMRUD: Khyber Agency MNA Alhaj Shahji Gul Afridi claimed on Monday that a pamphlet supposedly issued by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) Darra Adam Khel chapter, warning Kukikhel tribesmen not to meet him was fake as it bore no signature or stamp. 

The pamphlet, circulated in Jamrud, warned of attacks against Afridi and told tribesmen to stop meeting him. “People of the area should abstain from attending the public rallies of the MNA and stop cooperating with him or be ready to face consequences,” read the pamphlet.

Afridi told The Express Tribune the circulation of the pamphlet was a well-planned conspiracy against him.

“Such pamphlets were also distributed in the agency during Ramazan by troublemakers who later disappeared,” said the MNA. However, he acknowledged he and his family were targets, adding two of his cousins were injured in a recent kidnapping bid while the whereabouts of a third remain unknown.

He said security forces intensified their efforts to restore peace and the pamphlet could be a reaction to the recent arrest of 12 militants.

“We have started holding jirgas to form peace committees in the agency and these cowardly threats are the way certain elements are responding.”

On Sunday, Shalobar and Zakhakhel tribes announced the formation of two peace committees to aid the government. This development came in the wake of continuing violence in the agency and attacks on peace lashkars across the region.

Meanwhile, Mubashir Gul, a resident of Ghundai, told The Express Tribune two unidentified militants had pasted the pamphlet on his hujra’s wall.

“It had warnings for the MNA and the people,” Mubashir said. He noted law and order had deteriorated to the extent that militants recently attacked a security forces convoy in the tribal region, killing eight personnel. He said the situation had turned so ugly that khasadar officials and businessmen were being kidnapped or killed in targeted attacks.

Mubashir said the increased frequency of Nato containers passing through the area meant more attacks on them. He pointed to the three assaults over the last week that claimed six lives.

Jamrud Political Tehsildar Irshad Khan Safi said the administration was taking steps to control law and order, adding several suspects had been taken into custody. He claimed authorities were closing in on a group of kidnappers whose ringleader would be presented to the media when apprehended.

“We have arrested over 50 people under the FCR clause and are conducting more raids to catch the rest.”

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