MIRAMSHAH, July 16: Back-channel negotiations were under way on Monday to keep the peace deal between the government and militants in the North Waziristan Agency intact.
The local Taliban shura had on Sunday unilaterally announced scrapping the ten-month-old deal following deployment of troops at various checkpoints in the region.
Sources told Dawn that a three-member jirga headed by MNA Maulvi Nek Zaman, after holding detailed meetings with various militant commanders in the region, had called a joint session at a seminary near Miramshah to decide the fate of the deal.
“The jirga went to Razmak, Khaisaro, Datakhel and Deigan areas and held meetings with the heads of militant outfits. The jirga has called a joint meeting tonight to take some vital decisions,” said a source. The meeting was expected to continue late into the night.
He said the government had tasked the tribal MNA to engage the militant commanders in negotiations to keep the agreement intact.
The situation in Miramshah remained tense and paramilitary forces tightened security around government offices in the town.
Sources said that following warnings by the militants, personnel of Khasadar and Levies forces had asked shopkeepers to make their own arrangements for the security of their shops.
The government-run small radio station in Miramshah has suspended its transmission since Monday morning.
The local Taliban shura distributed pamphlets in the town, warning that attacks on officials of health, education, telephone, electricity, agriculture and roads departments, contractors and their vehicles would not be allowed.
“The violators of this announcement will be punished in the public, because these departments work for public welfare,” the pamphlet said.
It warned that attacks on army and paramilitary forces in the populated areas would not be permitted either, because such acts harmed civilians.
The militants warned Khasadar and Levies personnel against performing their official duties with the army and paramilitary forces at checkpoints in the area.
AFP adds: Thousands of people fled Miramshah after the militants’ announcement of scrapping the agreement. Bazaars were deserted as hundreds of families fled the town for safer areas, and Radio Pakistan went off the air when broadcasters joined other government officials in leaving the area, local residents said.
