March 23, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1428

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PESHAWAR, March 22: The Pakistan Army is providing free medical treatment to tribespeople who suffered injuries in the ongoing clashes among various militant groups in the volatile South Waziristan Agency.

Twelve wounded students and two women were brought by helicopters from Wana to the Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar, on Monday, while 15 others were shifted to a military hospital in the agency.

On Thursday, a 9th class student was discharged from the surgical ward of the CMH, while two other children were still in critical condition. Parents and relatives told Dawn that their children were getting free treatment at the army hospitals.

However, the military authorities are reported to have restricted tribesmen attending to their wounded relatives from speaking to the media about the treatment at the army hospital. The elder brother of a wounded child said that they had been directed not to talk to media because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) officials were not available for comments.

A school bus carrying about 40 students was caught in crossfire in Jaghundai on Monday in which 27 students were injured. Two children died on the spot, while two others succumed to injuries at the hospital. Five women were wounded when a shell fell on their house in the same locality.

A tribesman, who shifted his wounded nephew to Peshawar for treatment, said that schoolchildren were hit by a mortar shell when they alighted from the bus to find a shelter.

The armed conflict that started in the troubled agency on Monday is taking a heavy toll on the life of common tribesmen. The telephone system in the tribal agency is in total disarray and telephone lines remained virtually non-functional for the last three months. The tribesmen said that warlords held complete sway in South Waziristan over the past two years, while the political administration had become ineffective to deal with the situation.

“Apparently, the government seems to have lost its writ over the area and the people, but in reality it is the government which has the key either to end or to fuel hostilities in the region,” they said. “Hostilities have made Waziristan a veritable hell. Constant tension, target killings and easy-to-provoke clashes among the militant groups have affected the social fabric and routine life and business,” said a resident of Jaghundai.