Many families have fled several areas of Tirah valley here out of fear after “spotting” militants.
According to a report of DAWN Newspaper, some officials on condition of anonymity told that those families from Sanda Pal, Jarrhobi, Dwa Khulay, Baghrai, Khapur and Dray Naghari either shifted to the adjacent Orakzai Tribal District or went to relatives and friends based in Dars Jumaat, Sherkhel and Mergutkhel areas of Akkakhel.
They added that those people were members of Kamarkhel, Akkakhel, Zakhakhel, and Sipah tribes and returned to the valley recently after a decade of displacement due to the insurgency.
The officials said a camp was put up for those IDPs in Sokh area on their way to their respective destinations.
According to local tribesmen, they were told to leave homes in haste with no arrangements in place for the shifting of belongings by the authorities, the elderly, women, and children, too, had covered long distances on foot.
The tribesmen insisted that the armed men were present in some areas before the start of their (residents) return in June. They said their elders reported the presence of those ‘undesirable’ elements to the local officials but the action wasn`t taken against them.
The tribesmen claimed that they were told a few days ago to either hand over armed men to the security forces or leave the area immediately following attacks on security check posts and convoys with improvised explosive devices.
The residents of Bagh Maidan, the largest business centre in Tirah Valley said, the situation in their area was peaceful but they had told security officials that they won’t form any peace committee to act as a frontline defense against militants. They said “this time we would prefer leaving homes instead of resisting the “ruthless” militants as we suffered the most during the last time’s insurgency”.
