November 29, 2007	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 18, 1428

TIMERGARA, Nov 28: The Dir peace jirga has been assured that the army will not conduct any operation in Dir Lower. The meeting, also attended by army personnel, was held here on Wednesday at the Dir Scouts Headquarters in Balambat with Brigadier Azam Agha in the chair.

Dir Lower DCO Dr Attaur Rahman, DPO Khurshid Khan, district nazim Ahmad Hassan Khan, Col Amjad, Col Tahir, union nazims, political party leaders, ulema and notables of the area attended the meeting.

Addressing the jirga, Brig Azam Agha said that the army would not conduct any operation in Dir Lower. He said the main purpose of the troop deployment in the area was to provide security to people. He appealed to the people to cooperate with the law-enforcement agencies, adding that 15 checkpoints had been set up near Timergara aimed at protecting government officials and people.

He asked the local administration and people to prepare a joint action plan to prevent the entry of militants into Dir from Swat. He suggested setting up of checkpoints on the borders of Dir at Asbanr, Lamoti, Usherai and Karo Dara to stop the infiltration.

He warned that militants and the local Taliban fleeing from Swat might enter Dir and urged people to catch them.

Brig Agha said that during the curfew in Malakand, traffic from Dir to Mardan would continue uninterrupted and people of Dir could travel to Mardan without any restriction.

District nazim Ahmad Hassan said the people of Dir were peace loving and did not want any unrest in their area. He asked security forces to take the local people into confidence before taking any action.

He assured the army that the local administration would take strict action against criminals and would not allow anyone to take the law in their own hands. He said the political parties and leaders would play their roles to maintain peace in the area.

Azizullah Khan, Sardar Alum Bacha, Mohammad Rasool Khan, Zahir Shah Khan, Malik Jihan Zeb, Mehmood Jan, Ashfaq ur Rahman and other notables of the areas participated in the meeting.

The jirga agreed that it would maintain law and order in Dir and would not allow militants to enter Dir from Swat.