PESHAWAR, June 22: The Khogakhel tribe of Mohmand Agency is offering resistance to the paramilitary forces as sporadic firing continued on the second consecutive day along the Pakistan-Afghan border on Sunday, officials said.
The paramilitary and Khasadar forces are targeting some hilltops with light and heavy weapons to dismantle positions of Khogakhel tribesmen who had captured some strategic points to block the entry of Pakistan army in the area.
A senior official dealing with the security situation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) told Dawn here on Sunday that tension still prevailed in the area and the armed tribesmen were not ready to surrender.
He added that both sides were exchanging firing, but no casualty was reported. The official said that army troops is not engaged in the operation.
“Our forces are showing restraints,” the official said and added that a reconciliatory Jirga was sent to the area to observe ceasefire and resolve the issue through negotiation.
Senior officials including Inspector General of the Frontier Corps Major-General Hamid Khan and political agent of Mohmand Agency Sahibzada Mohammad Anees rushed to the border area to monitor the situation.
Officials said Islamabad has also sought assistance from Afghan transitional government to persuade the armed tribesmen to give up resistance and allow its army troops to set checkposts in the border land to check what officials described to flush out Al Qaeda activists from the area and secure the border areas.
Clashes erupted in the area as the army troops moved into the Mohmand Agency and set up checkpoints at several places along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border four days back.
