KOHAT, July 18: A meeting of local government representatives, parliamentarians and tribal elders from Kohat district here on Wednesday approved the formation of peace committees.

Expressing concern over the worsening of the law and order situation in the province, they said that innocent people were being killed in terrorist attacks.

District nazim Gohar Saifullah Khan chaired the meeting, which was attended by MNA Mufti Ibrar Sultan, MPA Shad Mohammad Khan, the district naib nazim, district police officer Vaqaruddin, district coordination officer Syed Shahabullah Shah, assistant coordination officer Mudassir Riaz, union council nazims, local tribal elders and councillors.

The district nazim stressed the need for selecting honest, responsible and God-fearing people as members of the peace committees and said they should be able to solve petty disputes at local level instead of registration of unnecessary police cases.

He regretted that Pukhtoons were being killed and said that they were being termed terrorists and extremists because of a particular mindset, which needed to be changed.

The ACO, Mudassar Riaz said that law-enforcement agencies could not alter the security situation without the participation of tribal elders and people.

He said that the committees would also keep a check on the prevailing law and order situation and work to eliminate crime from their respective areas.

The DPO said that five-member committees would be formed in the jurisdiction of all police stations while a district level committee would monitor the performance of the administration.