MIRAMSHAH: Elders of Ahmadzai Wazir and Dawar tribes have started efforts to stop the government from launching military operation in North Waziristan Agency.

Speaking at a jirga held here on Saturday, the tribesmen decided to travel to Peshawar and Islamabad to hold meetings with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. The elders would ask the governor and interior minister to find out solution to the situation through negotiations instead of military action. They said that people of Waziristan were patriotic and peace-loving.

The jirga decided that tribal people would not vacate their homes in case security forces launched operation. They said that people would take refuge in Afghanistan instead of taking shelter in relief camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Rumours about military operation have created uncertainty in North Waziristan with several Afghan families have already gone back to Afghanistan. While Taliban Commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur has also asked people to vacate their houses by June 10 and move to safe locations as what he said the government had decided to launch operation in the tribal agency.

Haji Sher Mohammad Khan presided over the jirga.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2014