DERA ISMAIL KHAN/WANA: Reacting to the killing of a youth from South Waziristan Agency, enraged mob stormed the offices of an alleged militant group and set on fire two compounds and vehicles in Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday, sources said.

Family members of the deceased, Idrees Wazir, alleged that he had quarrelled with a militant commander belonging to Mehsud tribe after a road accident in the city two days ago.

They said that both sides agreed to a patch up following the accident. They said that militants, who had offices in the main city, killed Idrees on February 4. Following the killing of Idrees, the tribesmen of Ahmadzai Wazir residing in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan held a protest and set up a camp.

Their fellow tribesmen from Wana, the administrative headquarters of South Waziristan Agency, also rushed to Dera Ismail Khan and joined the protest. The killing of Idrees sparked anger among his fellow tribesmen in Wana and other parts of South Waziristan Agency.

Sources told Dawn that the angry tribesmen blocked the Bannu Road to every kind of traffic. They said that the ‘pro-government peace committee members’ opened fire on an inn, owned by a local businessman Ghazi Khan, that killed Idrees Wazir.

Police say action will be taken against them for taking law into hands

Sources said that following the murder, Wazir tribesmen took the body of Idrees to GPO Chowk and staged protest. However, they dispersed peacefully after the authorities assured them of action.

On Tuesday, the tribesmen again took to the streets and attacked the compounds of the so-called peace committee in Madina Colony. Unruly mob torched two compounds and two vehicles on the occasion.

Separately, police in a statement said that a group resorted to firing after a spat between youths in the Sheikh Yousaf Adda area of the district on February 4. The statement said that the firing left one youth dead while another was injured.

It said that local police immediately registered FIR of the incident on Tuesday morning and arrested the main suspect, Sher Khan Mehsud, while they were striving to arrest the other suspect.

The statement said that on Tuesday afternoon, the complainant party attacked the property of their rivals and took law into their hands. “We are taking action against those, who took law in their own hands,” it added.

The video and footages of the incident went viral on the social media that showed that a mob chanting slogans against the militant group was torching properties. The tribesmen were seen hurling stones at the burning vehicles outside the compound.

About a year ago, it was reported that the militants had opened offices in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Militant groups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata have changed their modus operandi to initiate their activities in the name of peace committees.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2018