LAKKI MARWAT: The Janikhel elders continued the protest sit-in outside a local police station for the second day on Tuesday against the murder of a tribal elder as the district administration’s efforts to convince them to end the agitation and bury the slain proved futile.

Unidentified gunmen had killed Malik Naseeb Khan, 60, in Zindi Alikhel area of Bannu on Monday.

The killing sparked protest in the town as the relatives and tribesmen placed the body in front of the police station and staged a sit-in there.

The elders condemned the government for failing to control law and order and implement the peace agreement it had signed with the Janikhel elders in March this year.

They said innocent tribesmen and tribal chiefs were being killed.

The tribal elders said they would invite the political leadership to the sit-in site to draw their attention to the increasing killing incidents in the town. They asked the government to arrest the killers of the tribal chief without delay.

A government team headed by assistant commissioner, Wazir subdivision, Mohammad Qamar Khan remained engaged in talks with the tribal elders to convince them to end agitation. The team assured them that the government had taken practical steps to implement the peace agreement.

The talks between the government team and Janikhel elders continued till filing of this report on Tuesday evening.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2021