August 11, 2007	Saturday	Rajab 26, 1428

PESHAWAR, Aug 10: Reconciliatory efforts on part of parliamentarians from the restive Darra Adamkhel town remained without success on Friday after militants refused to stop detonating houses of Qasimkhel tribesmen.

Senator Razik Khan and MNA Dr Naseem contacted the militants on Friday and urged them to vacate the Chargano village. The officials were assisted by the local administration and a team of clerics from Kohat district.

According to local tribesmen, between 500 and 1,000 militants had occupied the village after an intense fight with Qasimkhel tribesmen on Wednesday last. The clash left three tribesmen dead and numerous others homeless.

The identity of the militants operating in Darra Adamkhel town remained unknown.

“They (militants) usually disappear in the day and come out on the roads in the night. Nobody exactly knows about their leadership, or where they are commanding these small groups of gunmen from. They do not even communicate with the local people,” a tribal elder said.

Elected representatives from Darra Adamkhel had invited a team of Peshawar-based journalists for the coverage of their reconciliatory efforts. But militant representatives came hard on Mr Razik and Dr Naseem for bringing the media people.

Local tribesmen said the masked gunmen had been in command of the arms manufacturing Darra Adamkhel town for the last five days.

The militants have refused to hold talks with the local administration, elders and parliamentarians from the area. They even refused to talk to the media.

Militants were seen riding motorbikes and carrying sophisticated weapons such as rocket launchers on the main Peshawar-Kohat highway. But despite the fact that the militants wearing ammunition laden vests were roaming around the Darra Adamkhel bazaar, the Khasaddars did not move in to take any action.

When photojournalists focused their zoom lenses towards three masked men holed up inside a Khasaddar checkpoint where they were holding a meeting with the parliamentarians in Darra Bazaar, a militant turned his rocket towards journalists and warned them against taking any pictures.

Maulana Rafiullah Saddiq, leader of the team of negotiators, said the masked men were neither Taliban nor militants. “They just came here to promote virtue and deny vice in the area,” he said.

Senator Razik showed journalists the five cars recovered by the militants from the compound of an alleged criminal Ameer Said who was shot dead few days ago. The senator said a total 18 cars and four captives were recovered from a criminal hideout.

Senator Razik and MNA Dr Naseem supported the action of militants against criminals in the town, located some 35km south of Peshawar.