MIRAMSHAH (North Waziristan), July 24: A joint jirga of tribal elders and ulema has threatened to boycott development works initiated by the army in the tribal agencies if the elders are not taken into confidence about search operations.
The jirga also announced that the elders should be taken into confidence before conducting search operations in the tribal areas otherwise they would be exempted from their collective responsibility to maintain peace in the tribal territory.
The jirga was attended by MNA Maulana Nek Zaman, Senator Matin Shah, tribal chief Malik Qadir Khan and elders of all the tribes of North Waziristan Agency. A large number of ulema also participated in the jirga.
The jirga unanimously decided that tribesmen would boycott the development works of the army and would not avail themselves of any development schemes.
The participants said that if the administration and the military authorities failed to take the tribal elders, ulema and chiefs of different tribes into confidence about any search operation in the future, they would be absolved of the collective responsibility.
MISSILE ATTACK: Unidentified assailants fired seven missiles at the army camp in the agency headquarters here on Saturday night, causing damage to the property and disrupting electricity supply to some villages.
Six missiles were fired at the camp, one of which landed in the army public school near the vocational college. The missile damaged an electric pole at the nearby grid station and the electricity supply was suspended.
Another missile hit the boundary wall of a house in the Tochi Scouts Colony and slightly damaged it. Three other missiles struck near the militia fort, causing no damage.
Political authorities and paramilitary forces rushed to the site and cordoned off the area soon after the attack. The forces also defused an unexploded missile lying near the militia fort.
