By Ashrafuddin Pirzada
KHYBER: Frontier Corps (FC), district administration, and police carried out a joint anti-narcotics operation in the different areas of the remote Tirah valley of Khyber district, destroying illegal opium poppy cultivation spread across hundreds of acres in multiple areas, officials said on Wednesday.
According to officials, the operation was launched in the Upper Bara, Tor Dara, Sandana, and Swakh Gharai areas following intelligence-based reports regarding the cultivation of narcotics crops. Security forces and civil authorities conducted search and clearance operations in difficult mountainous terrain for several hours before completely eradicating the poppy fields.
The operation was led by Assistant Commissioner Tirah Anwar along with Tehsildar Tirah, senior officials of Tirah Militia, local Frontier Corps wing commander Lt. Col. Waqas, and Tirah Maidan police personnel.
Officials described the crackdown as an important step toward curbing narcotics production, trafficking, and smuggling networks operating in the region. Authorities said similar operations would continue in the future to ensure the writ of the state and to protect the younger generation from the harmful effects of drugs.
Tirah Valley, a rugged mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the former tribal areas, has historically been highlighted by international media and security analysts as a vulnerable zone for illegal narcotics cultivation and smuggling due to its difficult terrain, limited state access, and proximity to cross-border trafficking routes. In past years, foreign reports and regional observers have linked parts of the wider tribal belt to opium production and the movement of narcotics toward regional and international markets.
Following the merger of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistani authorities have increased efforts to dismantle militant and criminal networks, including narcotics-related activities, in remote areas such as Tirah Valley.
