KHYBER: Scores of enraged tribesmen forcibly stopped construction work of customs terminal at Torkham border on Monday.

The protesting Khugakhel tribesmen of Landi Kotal resorted to forcibly stopping the National Logistic Cell (NLC) construction workers from their ongoing work on the terminal, close to border crossing after accusing the NLC of unlawfully transgressing their personal properties.

The tribesmen, who are the collective owners of the 300-kanal they have committed for the construction of the customs terminal through a written agreement in June 2015, started their protest two weeks ago when NLC authorities allegedly ‘grabbed’ some more land without any prior intimation to the owners.

Khugakhel elders Barkatullah, Qari Nazeem Gul and Shah Rehman alleged during the protest that NLC was not only unlawfully grabbing more of their joint properties but also withheld the tribe’s share in the income from the terminal.

They said that they would not allow any further construction activity till the actual demarcation of the land which they had unanimously agreed to hand over to NLC for the construction of a modern terminal.

They appealed to the Peshawar corps commander, IGFC, FBR and custom authorities to help resolve the issue and stop NLC from forcibly grabbing their personal lands.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2020