19 September 2004	Sunday	03 Shaban 1425

PESHAWAR, Sept 18: Speakers at a forum here have demanded an end to the ongoing military operation in South Waziristan and urged the federal government to resolve the issue by holding talks with local people.

The event was organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) at the Peshawar Press Club to discuss the situation prevailing in Fata with a special reference to South Waziristan. The meeting was attended by the members of the civil society including lawyers and rights activists.

The speakers demanded an immediate pullout of troops from Wana and its adjoining areas, where scores of civilians had been killed in shootouts between security forces and alleged militants.

Speaking on the occasion, HRCP Director I.A. Rehman expressed concern over bombing of residential areas by troops, which he said, resulted in the killing of women and children besides aged people.

He said it was strange that military was using force against the people of the country which was morally wrong. Violence only led to more violence so it should be stopped, he added.

Human rights organizations and political parties should join hands to evolve a strategy for the resolution of the crisis, Mr Rehman said and added that social workers and international aid agencies like the International Committee of Red Cross should be allowed access to South Waziristan.

National Awami Party Secretary-General Latif Afridi, who belongs to Khyber Agency, criticized the military action and said that force was used against the civilian population in a manner as if a foreign army was trying to take control of the area.

He said so far the government had not presented a single foreign militant arrested from South Waziristan before the people. Neither media people nor any another organization were being allowed to visit the area to ascertain facts, he claimed.

Awami National Party's additional general secretary Afrasiab Khattak, in his speech, termed the situation in South Waziristan critical and said if the issue was not resolved through peaceful means fighting could spread to other tribal agencies and settled areas.

Tribal people should also realize that Al Qaeda was trying to spread the Iraq war to this area and that was why the situation was being turned seriously deliberately so that Fata could be internationalized, he added.

He said the civilian population of South Waziristan was not a party to the conflict, but it was being forced to take sides. The use of force against civilian people could have dreadful consequences, Mr Afrasiab Khattak warned.

Asad Afridi advocate who visited different parts of South Waziristan to conduct a fact-finding mission on behalf of the HRCP, while sharing his experiencing, said due to the military operation the economy of the agency had collapsed and scores of houses had destroyed.

He said he visited Kalosha, Azam Warsak, Ghwakhwa, Dabkote, Sharan Kote, Doke, Sarkikhel and a few other villages near Wana. About 83 houses in Kalosha and 30 houses in Azam Warsak were destroyed in shelling by the armed forces, he claimed.

Mr Afridi said the local people had made committees to ensure that the government installations were not attacked but still they were attacked and in return the civilians were bombarded by the forces.