Daily Times

The country has witness prolonged war and terror which caused irreparable damage to the people living across the newly merge tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The long wave of terrorism where effect people economically and socially, the militant hit tribal district also received the highest number of people with physical disabilities across Pakistan

In Pakistan, where terrorism incident has crippled many people, Sajid Afridi is the one among the many war survivors. Sajid Afridi is 32 years old and belong the Khyber agency, which is now district after merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Sajid Afridi shared the story that he lost his hand an explosion in the mosque at Jamrood in August 2011. Since the blast, Sajid Afridi is living as disable life in Jamrod bazar, which is some 20 km away from the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He still remembered that horrible incent said that it has been and years but still that explosive sounds and buzzers are popping up in my ears and mind. He will never forget that day said that I was been in trauma and still not recovered fully but it was miracle that I got survived, Afridi added.

Sajid Afridi, is now working as a tailor in Khyber district explains that after disability, I took classes which help me in establishing such business. He is now living happy life shared that now I can earn and living happy life instead of bagging or waiting for any other support, Afridi concluded.

After peace restored, the remaining of terrorism and military operations in the regions emerging and posing serious threat to the lives, specifically people residing in the remote areas of tribal district of Pakistan

Among them, South Waziristan emerged the greatest number of people with disabilities while the other district is Kurram, Khyber and border regions of both Mohmand and Bajur district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

We have connected Irfan Ullah, which is among one of the terrorism survivors. He understands the physical and mental pain that victims of terrorism face every day. He has lost both legs in a terrorist bombing in 2011 in Kurram District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Irfan Ullah express that the tribal region has seen militancy which has share of deaths, economic losses, and instability for the last two decades. He is of the view that that apart from the massive economic and social shocks in the region, the war victims are challenge for the government in Pakistan.

In 2015, the struggle of the then-13-year-old spurred him to establish the FATA Disabled Welfare Organization (FDWO), which offers physical and moral assistance to tribal residents disabled by terrorist attacks.

Since its formal registration in 2016, the organization has provided assistance to scores of Pakistanis in an effort to help terror victims overcome their disabilities and lead a normal life.

Irfan Ullah expressed that disable persons are the most venerable community in the world. He epress that after KP merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there is a need to initiate comprehensive welfare programs for disable persons of Fata, Irfan Ullah concluded.

The tribal district of Pakistan is home to thousands of disable persons and its ratio is 15% in the terrorism hit tribal region as compare to 10% internationally

Among the several reasons, the majority of the people with disabilities caused due to the explosive material during war and terror while the other reasons are anti polio campaign during militancy and poverty across the newly merged tribal district of Pakistan

Tehsil Khan is the secretary of Anjuman Bahal-e-Mazoran and working for the rights of disable people in one of the tribal districts of Pakistan. On contacted him on phone, Tehsil Khan expressed that there is no proper mechanism with the provincial government to carried out survey to find out the exact numbers of disable people living across the tribal district of Pakistan.

The secretary has shared that so far government has only 6,800 figures of the disable people which are registered with the social welfare department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He expressed concern that majority of the disable people are affected due to the polio, which was once ban by militants in the region during war and terror while the second biggest number of the victims are the war and terror.

The disable right activist shared that majority of the disable people are women across tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He further elaborates that locals are reluctant to registered their women in disable list due to social and culture taboos across tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He concluded with he demands from government to initiates emergency steps for the special education, restore and implement their quota in government, and most important to provide wheel chairs to each and every disable person across the tribal district of Pakistan

The most effected of the war and terror and post military operations are women and children among the residents in the seven tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

In tribal districts, 63 teams deployed to search and cleared the landmines. So far, 2215 land mines were demined in which 11383 were plotted in South Waziristan and 2496 in North Waziristan

After, the restoration of peace and returning of Internally displaced people to their homes, free movement remains a major challenge due to the presence of thousands of scattered land mines and other explosives across tribal districts of Pakistan.

To counter the threat, the military undertook a comprehensive demining effort employing state-of-the-art equipment and organizations especially created to counter IEDs, booby traps and mines i.e. CIEDO (Counter Improvised Explosive Device Organization) and S & EOD (Search & Explosive Ordnance Disposal) units.

Apart, the security forces are also raising awareness among residents about the dangers of improvised explosives devices (IEDs) and land mines left behind by the militants.

Aims to minimize the loss of life and limbs and sensitize locals to the risks of IEDs and land mines, the awareness campaign, launched in May 2016, which is still continue in newly merged tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The effort involves the distribution of informational pamphlets, banners, and daily interactive sessions in schools and hujras (male social gatherings) which is set to be continue until the entire region is cleared of such explosives.

The media wing of Pakistan army shared with the media that Security personnel have mapped the location of hundreds of mines and explosives in the tribal districts and removal efforts are ongoing but over the decades war and terror and rehabilitation process in the region, rain, floods and erosion may have moved many of the mines from where they were originally laid.

The media wing of Pakistan army further claim that Bomb disposal experts’ clear explosives identified by villagers and offer medical aid and compensation to those wounded in explosions while Specialized teams of bomb disposal experts began accelerating demining efforts undergoes in tribal areas which are painstaking and dangerous.

After the post war, more than 2,000 cases of land mine blasts were reported across the former federally administrated tribal agencies (FATA)

*Among the civilian causalities, more than 100 armed personals of the security forces had been laid their lives due to the land mines blasts in tribal district of Pakistan

However, there is a mix opinion present in media & social media that the the landmines were plotted by Tahreek Taliban Pakistan and on the other hand a group on social media accused Pakistan Army while some claiming that the such landmines were plotted on borders areas during Soviet war in Afghanistan

Earlier, reports and government claimed an end of the conflict in the region but trans-frontier threat still remains a major concern for the military in Pakistan.

The long border of tribal district in Pakistan sharing with Afghanistan, terrorist groups intermittently make attempts to sneak in from across the border to carry out attacks and plot landmines in Pakistan.

However, the military has almost completed 80 percent of fencing of the border to deny the terrorists ease of movement across the border into Pakistan.