LANDI KOTAL: The security forces on Friday arrested 35 suspects, including six militants and 19 illegal Afghan nationals, and seized unlicensed arms and ammunition during a search operation in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency.

Official sources told Dawn that a curfew was imposed in Shah Kas locality of Jamrud ahead of the ‘search and cordon operation’ in light of a tip-off about the presence of suspects in the area.

They said the security forces held 35 suspected people, including six militants and 19 Afghan nationals without valid travel documents. The sources claimed two arrested men were involved in the recent bomb blasts in Jamrud tehsil. They said the arrested men were shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

PROTESTS ANNOUNCED: The pro-government tribal elders affiliated with an apolitical organisation, Fata Grand Alliance, have announced the blocking of all major roads in seven tribal agencies to protest the merger of the region with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

FGA leader Malik Waris Khan Afridi told Dawn that a meeting of all anti-merger tribal elders would be held in Peshawar on Sunday.

He said separate dates would be announced for the blocking of the main Fata roads and the holding of a march on Islamabad. Mr. Waris said the FGA would use all available resources to oppose the five years Fata-KP merger plan and press for the creation of the elected Fata Council to legislate for the tribal region.

Also in the day, the Khyber Union, a political organisation of Khyber Agency, also announced the start of a mass contact campaign in all seven Fata agencies to ‘foil’ the federal government’s plan to merge tribal areas with KP.

Former MNA from Khyber Agency and KU leader Hameedullah Jan Afridi told Dawn that his organisation would not allow a handful of Fata parliamentarians to usurp the democratic rights of the local residents.

He said the five years Fata-KP merger plan of the federal government was ambiguous and that it didn’t have a ‘clear-cut indication’ for the total repeal of the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2017