Daily Times

A clearance operation has been launched by the law enforcement agencies along with the civil administration to rid Kurram district of miscreants after the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government greenlighted “indiscriminate and stringent action” against those involved in attacks on relief convoys and deputy commissioner.

The district administration confirmed that action against miscreants in the areas of Lower Kurram have entered the second day amid the imposition of curfew. Contingents of security forces and the police were already deployed in the affected areas which saw deadly clashes before the peace agreement signed between the warring tribes earlier this month.

It added that 20 families have vacated their houses in the affected parts, whereas, some families were shifted to their relatives’ houses and Hangu.

Kohat commissioner clarified that the activities under the Kurram operation were not against locals but miscreants.

His statement came after repeated attacks on aid convoys and vehicles in the Bagan area and its surroundings, including a targeted attack on Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud despite a peace agreement reached on January 1.

Personnel from the KP police, district administration, and other law enforcement agencies were taking part in the clearance operation in Bagan and its suburban parts after shifting residents to safe localities, sources closer to the provincial government told the media.

Prior to this development, the district administration had established camps for temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) in four village councils of the lower part of the Kurram tribal district.

It was learnt that these camps were established in Hangu where affectees of the operations will be given temporary residence till completion of the clearance operation.

The sources added that the local administration made arrangements for the residence of 1,500 to 3,000 families in the camps.

Under the peace agreement, eight bunkers were demolished with the approval of the warring parties in Bagan, the sources said. After the security situation improves, another aid convoy carrying food, medicines, and other essential items is expected to depart for Kurram district in three days.

Kurram has been wracked by violence for decades, but around 150 people have been killed in a fresh round of fighting which started in November last year when two separate convoys travelling under police escort were ambushed, leaving 40 people dead.

Last week, terrorists ambushed a convoy of 35 vehicles set to resupply local traders in the restive territory with rice, flour, cooking oil and essential medicine, which claimed the lives of at least 8 people, including security personnel, drivers and civilians. Retaliatory action by security forces resulted in the killing of six assailants.

“Peace agreement is being implemented,” members of the grand jirga, including Pir Haider, Laiq Orakzai, Wasi Syed Mian and Haji Noorjaf were quoted by The News as saying on Sunday.

They detailed that bunkers belonging to both tribes had been destroyed, and the agreement was being followed. However, they said that in the last 10 days, several violations of the agreement had occurred. They warned that if the government did not take action against these violations, future jirgas and agreements would lose their significance.