The office of the political agent had put the advertisement in newspapers a month ago after more than 600 Khasadars quit the force and another 715 were terminated for not attending to their duties because of threats from the banned militant outfit Lashkar-i-Islam in early September.

Before terminating their services, the authorities had given Khasadars a 24-hour ultimatum to report back to their duties. But sources in the Khyber House, office of the Khyber political agent in Peshawar, told Dawn that only 111 personnel retuned to their duties in Bara.

The enmasse departure of Khasadars was considered a huge blow to the ongoing military operation against the Lashkar-i-Islam in Bara tehsil as the political administration had been stressing from the very beginning that the operation would continue till restoration of government’s writ in Bara.

The military operation in Bara has been continuing since Sept 1, but Mangal Bagh and most of his top associates are still at large.

The Khasadars’ resignations, according to many observers, took the very sting out of the military operation codenamed ‘Biya Daraghlum’ (Here I Come Again) as the local administration rely heavily on the Khasadar force to ensure its authority in the tribal areas.

The administration had initially set Sept 22 as the last date for accepting applications for fresh recruitments, but due to lackluster response from people, the date has now been indefinitely extended.

Many believe the Lashkar-i-Islam threat is a major factor in keeping the people away from applying for the posts. Sources said 140 aspirants had applied for the posts so far.

The terminated personnel, meanwhile, sent a jirga to LI chief Mangal Bagh to persuade him not to take any action against them if they rejoined their duties.

They also appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari, NWFP governor and officials of the Fata Civil Secretariat and the Khyber House to reinstate them as they were facing financial crisis after termination of their services.

But the newly-appointed Fata security secretary Captain (retired) Traiq Hayat, who was political agent of Khyber when the services of Khasadars were terminated, rejected the sacked Khasadars’ appeal for reinstatement, saying they had twice disobeyed official orders and would not be reinstated now.

The resignation of hundreds of Khasadar personnel had also took the ordinary tribesmen by surprise due to the lucrative nature of the informal tribal force. It is generally observed that tribesmen, both young and aged, were ready to pay huge amounts as graft to the political administration for a vacant post in the Khasadar force.

Though the monthly salary of a Khasadar is less than Rs10,000, they earn a handsome amount if posted at checkpoint of their choice, the most lucrative being the Torkham border and the numerous checkpoints on the Peshawar-Torkham highway.

It has also been noticed in a number of tribal areas that while a Khasadar himself has either gone abroad or has found some alternative private job in the tribal areas, he will depute another man from his family or clan on half salary in order to fetch benefits attached with his official job and also to get a share in money received at lucrative checkposts.