Waziri refugees in Afghanistan desperate to come home on October 22, 2016BANNU: When after years of dithering, the government finally announced a military operation against militants in North Waziristan on 15th June, 2014, over a million people left the tribal district helter-skelter to keep up with the deadline amid a tight curfew. Thousands of the displaced found refuge in the neighbouring cities of Bannu, Lakki Marwat […]
Hopes and fears as tribesmen mull Fatas mainstreaming on September 26, 2016PESHAWAR: On a recent Monday morning, a group of young and educated tribesmen sat in the meeting room of a private school in Peshawar to ponder over recommendations submitted by a committee to help mainstream the tribal region called Fata. The group comprised lawyers, teachers, social workers, student’s leaders, government employees and members of different […]
In NWA, returnees in financial limbo in absence of banks on September 9, 2016BANNU: Dostmal Khan, a retired school teacher with a fragile constitution, stands waiting in a long queue at the door of National Bank in Miranshah Fort. He is waiting for his turn to get pension from the only bank in North Waziristan Agency. The state-owned National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) is the only bank in […]
Tribal areas hill resort Little London springs back to life on August 8, 2016BANNU: Born into a region that has been at the heart of brutal militancy and conflict in Pakistan’s tribal areas, Yaser Asad had only seen murder and mayhem in his native North Waziristan since he became conscious of the world around him. The tranquility of Razmak, the hill station once known as Little London, was […]
Property demolition as penalty for militancy leaves NWA tribesmen stranded on July 16, 2016 BANNU: The news that the government is demolishing houses of tribesmen in Miranshah town and Darpakhel village in North Waziristan Agency has set residents of these places, presently living as internally displaced people in Bannu, on the edge. Authorities say the houses – and in some cases markets – are being demolished to penalise […]
NWA: Deweaponisation leaves tribesmen both vulnerable and relieved on June 16, 2016BANNU: Not long ago, one couldn’t have imagined the once sworn enemies sitting together in the same hujra without resorting to violence of the grievous kind. And what’s more, with no weapons to protect themselves from each other or deter a threat. None even to brandish in the streets, something that most men did in […]
No schooling for tribal girls due to anti-militant offensives on June 12, 2016 BANNU: Aiman, 13, is a fifth grader in a local school in the North Waziristan Agency (NWA). Hers is the only functioning school in the entire tribal agency where the military recently concluded its Zarb-e-Azb offensive against militants, started on June 15, 2014. Two years ago, when Aiman and her family were displaced in […]