MIRAMSHAH: The issue of compensation to Miram­shah and Mir Ali traders, whose shops and properties were damaged during the military operation against militants, was discussed at a jirga here on Sunday.

The issue essentially re­­lates to financial assistance to the shopkeepers for the perishable commodities which were kept in their shops before the operation Zarb-i-Azb was launched against outlawed organisations.

Prominent among those who attended the jirga were Director General of the Inter-Services Public Rela­tions Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, General Officer Command­ing of North Waziristan Azhar Hayat Khan, the additional chief secretary of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, NWA political agent Mohammad Ayaz and president of the Anjuman Tajiran Pakistan Ajmal Baloch. Thirty shopkeepers were also among the participants.

According to sources, two committees with five members each — one for Miram­shah and the other for Mir Ali — were set up to determine financial losses and damage suffered by the traders during the military operation.

Each committee will be headed by an assistant political officer and will have four traders as its members. They will collect data about losses of the traders within one week.

It was decided that the committees would recommend compensation amount for each affected shopkeeper and the same would be processed in the administrative chain for speedy implementation.

The representative shopkeepers expressed their confidence in the administration and the state for resolution of their problems.

They said that the issue was of local nature which could only be resolved by the atate and not by playing into the hands of those people who did not want to see revival of peace or by raising slogans against state institutions.

The committees will meet on a weekly basis to ensure speedy progress in the plan of payment of compensation.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2018