Up all night: When the guns fall silent

Villagers in areas bordering Khyber Agency hopeful military action will eliminate terrorists .

PESHAWAR:

A welcome yet eerie silence greets people living in the villages bordering Khyber Agency in the day. Most of them are used to the sound of shelling and roaring gunfire exchanged between militant outfit Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and security forces at night. Yet the sound of warfare round the corner is a hopeful harbinger of better times to come for villagers who have lived for years in the shadow of militancy and war.

When the music died

The fact that Akka Khel and Shalober areas became sanctuaries for militants made the already unsafe lives of villagers even more vulnerable. Long before the presence of LI, criminal elements such as kidnappers and car thieves ran amok in the area, their favourite targets being the children of the wealthy.



For their security, villagers used to carry AK-47 rifles like their neighbours in the tribal areas.

Even the police did not stop them from carrying weapons until a few years ago when a check post was established in Sheikhan and two more at Sangu to stop armed militants from settling in the area. Locals were asked not to display weapons so they could be differentiated from militants and it was perhaps for the first time in history that the writ of the police was established in these villages.

However, the supposed control of law enforcers turned out to be a façade and militants continued to kidnap people in broad daylight. Locals were now defenceless as they did not even have their trusted AK-47s to protect them from militants who were collecting millions in extortion. Those refusing to pay have been ruthlessly murdered by the dozen.

The more affluent villagers packed up and moved to Hayatabad and other parts of Peshawar for the sake of their families. Those with no other choice were left to bear the brunt of the ongoing wave of militancy and suffered tremendously without any attention from law enforcement agencies, the government or security forces.

Waiting for a clean-up

However, things have started looking up for the villages recently after the military sprang into action with Operation Khyber-1.

“In the past, every action was not designed to eliminate the militants, but this time we sense a real ‘clean-up operation’ and are very happy,” an elder of the Mashokhel tells The Express Tribune. However, he says, existing with the presence of security forces in their own backyard is far from easy and locals are told to remain indoors as darkness falls.

Another elder of Sheikhan village shares similar views. “Let me tell you a small portion of the village along Frontier Road is constantly under curfew and people are facing great hardship.”

However he says, “We are willing to suffer further [to rid the region of militancy], but security forces need to finish this business that has made our lives miserable.”

At least this way the villager will be able to get a decent night’s rest as he has not been able to sleep properly for years after intermittent military action has been ongoing for five years.

“How can you sleep in peace when the long range artillery of the Pakistan Army is pounding militant positions all night long on an almost daily basis,” he says. “People also have to be vigilant and guard their houses from militants.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2014.