Amn Jirga Asks Taliban To Leave Tirah Valley

By Ashrafuddin Pirzada

KHYBER: Due to the growing militancy and deteriorating situation in Khyber district, the tribesmen launched an Amn(peace) movement on Saturday.

The grand Jirga was participatee by thousands of residents, political leaders, social activists, traders and elders held at “Tirah Maidan in Tirah valley. The Amn Jirga” was organized against not to unit against terrorists operating in Khyber but the participants also denounced state aggression, artificial military operations and the so-called war to collect dollars from countries.

Addressing a public gathering, the tribal elders and political parties said that people of Tirah have been facing state experiments, military operations, forced evictions and innocent killings of the local people for a long time. They said that several military operations were conducted in Khyber to eliminate terrorists, but failed, while residents suffered from it.

The speakers asked the state that they want no more military operations and terrorism, but want peace and tranquillity in the area. They said that at any cost, Tirah residents would not evacuate their homes and would defend their towns with their own. They also asked those militant groups operating in Tirah to vacate their area and leave the whole valley.

“Each time war was imposed on the tribal people and each time they were made a scapegoat,” Jamaat Islami ameer Bara Khan Wali Afridi said.

He said that the state once again pushed towards instability in the name of “peace,” and the people had decided that they would not be silent spectators.

“The purpose of the peace jirga is to convince the state that the people of Tirah valley are aware of the state’s intentions, while they are no longer willing to be used as fuel in a so-called war for dollars,” Tehsil Chairman Mufti Muhammad Kafeel said.

He added the residents were raising their peaceful voice to protect their right to identity, land and life, while their voice could not be suppressed anymore.

He explained that the state institutions should prioritize dialogue over force, public opinion over forced decisions and peace over war.

“The tribal people of Tirah are once again trying to put into fake military operations but not education, health and peace in Tirah valley,” Mufti Kafeel.
It may be mentioned here that more than a dozen terrorism related incidents happened in Khyber district, especially the hilly Tirah valley, where several target killings and blasts took civilians and security forces personnel’s lives in the past few months.