By Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: The Bara Seyasi Ittehad leaders, elders, and local body representatives on Sunday rejected the forced displacement of residents if a military operation is launched in Tirah valley of the Khyber district.
Bara Seyasi Ittehad President Hashim Khan Afridi, general secretary Malik Attaullah, Member National Assembly (MNA) Iqbal Afridi, Bara tehsil chairman Mufti Kafeel, JI local ameer Khan Wali, Malik Muhammad Hussain, Imran Afridi, Pakistan Muslim League (N) leaders Zahir Shah Afridi, Asghar Afridi and others addressed the consultative jirga held in Bara.
They reaffirmed that Tirah residents would no longer be able to sacrifice their lives and properties in the war on terror.
“We, the Tirah residents, have already suffered in past military operations and militancy, we will not let to conduct military operations on their soil”, the speakers said.
They said that the tribal people, particularly residents of Tirah valley, would not leave their homes and properties under any circumstances
They maintained that residents of Tirah had always paid a heavy cost of price in the so-called military operations and militancy against terrorism, and they could no longer afford to suffer more damage and losses.
The speakers insisted that military operations were not a solution to curbing militancy, as they had always backfired in the shape of forced eviction and destruction. They suggested that the current situation in Tirah should be resolved through negotiations.
Later, the Bara Seyasi Ittehad announced that the local tribal people from across the tehsil Bara and other tehsils would gather on the main Bara bazaar road to offer Friday prayer and then launch a protest against the military operations in Tirah valley.
