WANA: One man was killed on Monday when security forces opened fire to stop violation of a curfew imposed a day earlier in Wana, South Waziristan Agency, after clashes between militants and workers of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM).

According to officials, four people were killed and 28 injured during the clashes on Sunday.

They confirmed that two PTM workers and two suspected militants were among the dead. Some of the wounded were sent to Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar.

Wana is under a dawn-to-dusk curfew, with army and paramilitary forces patrolling the town.

Residents in Wana said all entry and exit points had been sealed. Educational institutions and other offices remained closed in the town. However, life in Azam Warsak and Karikot areas remained normal.

On Sunday, workers of the PTM and militants, also known as Peace Committee, exchanged fire in the town’s main bazaar. The situation deteriorated when members of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe rushed to the place to assist PTM workers. An angry mob set two offices of the Peace Committee on fire.

According to sources, supporters of Ali Wazir, a leader of the PTM, had called a rally in Wana on Saturday. Some elements started raising slogans against the Peace Com­mittee and its “mentors”, infuriating the militants.

The sources added the clashes started at a petrol station owned by Ali Wazir. A jirga had to intervene to disengage the two sides.

Tension gripped the area when militants who controlled entire Wana sub-division opened fire on the supporters of Ali Wazir after they assembled at the petrol pump.

Insiders say Ali Wazir had been under pressure to quit PTM. The Peace Committee, which had divided Wana sub-division into four zones, had decreed that no social or political activity could be held without its permission. The committee had already placed a ban on music during wedding ceremonies and other festivals.

“Locals were fed up with the presence of the Taliban in the area,” said a resident of Wana. He alleged that activists of peace committees collected a “tax” from shopkeepers every month.

Meanwhile, the elders of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe held a jirga in Wana to review the situation. Officials of the political administration attended the jirga.

One official said the administration had asked elders to stop the PTM from “holding activities” in Wana and nearby areas. The jirga conveyed concerns of the administration to Ali Wazir, who belongs to an influential family. The jirga is likely to meet again on Tuesday.

The PTM agreed to “suspend its activities” in Wana till Eid under a deal brokered by a jirga on Monday.

Asghar Khan, a member of the jirga, told Dawn that the militants, too, had agreed not to carry out their activities in Wana bazaar.

He said Ali Wazir had assured tribal elders that he would abide by the jirga’s decision. He said the jirga would hold talks with the administration for lifting curfew restrictions on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2018