KHYBER: Scores of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Tirah Valley staged a protest at the Alamgudar Registration Centre in Bara on Friday over delays in receiving promised transport cash, local sources said.
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According to residents, frustration mounted as displaced families, already exhausted from traveling in extreme cold, were forced to wait for extended periods. Some protesters resorted to pelting stones at the gates of the centre and a few official vehicles outside.
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Turab Ali, a displaced resident from Sipah, said families had faced multiple hardships during the journey from Tirah and could not tolerate further delays. Another IDP, Lal Zamir, said the registration centre staff had kept people waiting without explanation, prompting the demonstration.
The district administration closed the centre in the evening and said a new schedule for cash distribution would be announced to prevent overcrowding and mismanagement. Although four centres had been opened in Bara last week, cash was distributed only at Alamgudar, leading to a heavy influx of people at the site.
Arrivals of new IDPs from Tirah have slowed significantly after the evacuation was suspended on January 23 due to heavy snowfall in the valley, which made travel hazardous. Members of a 24-member Tirah Jirga have also been advising residents to stay indoors because of harsh weather and confusion following federal statements about ongoing military operations in the region.
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Officials said that since late December, 13,725 families — nearly 70,000 individuals — have arrived in Bara from Tirah. All families received mobile SIM cards after biometric verification at Paindi Cheena and three other registration centres. Remaining families are expected to be registered in the coming days once conditions improve and evacuations resume.