Four militants lay down arms in Orakzai

HANGU: Four militants laid down their arms and surrendered before the law enforcement agencies at Kalaya, headquarters of Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on Wednesday.

Official sources while confirming the report said four important militants linked with the banned Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Aslam Farooqi group surrendered before the law enforcement agencies and laid down arms at Kalaya in Orakzai Agency.

The militants include Muhammad Gul, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Karim and Muhammad Sher.

The surrendering militants will be dealt with according to the law of the land, a security official was reported as saying.

It may be mentioned here that 12 militants of banned TTP Aslam Farooqi group headed by their local commander Hafiz Daulat have already surrendered before the law enforcement agencies at Kalaya in August this year.

According to a security official the militants were surrendering because security forces have taken complete control of the area, and there was nowhere to hide.

With senior militant commanders either dead or escaping, there was no choice – either lay down weapons or choose the same fate, the official said.

Orakzai is one of the country’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Taliban and other militants were said to have strongholds before the start of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in June 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2015.