NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Repatriation of the displaced persons (DPs) belonging to North Waziristan, who had sought refuge in Afghanistan in the wake of operation Zarb-i-Azb, will begin on Friday (today).

Deputy commissioner Shahid Ali Khan told mediapersons in Miramshah here on Thursday that arrangements for the return of the displaced persons from Afghanistan via Ghulam Khan border crossing had been made. He said that about 5,500 displaced families were currently residing in Khost and Laghman areas of Afghanistan.

“Transport facilities have been arranged for the returnees through Ghulam Khan,” Mr Khan said and added that they would be sent onward to Lakki Marwat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan.

More than 10,000 families from North Waziristan migrated to Afghanistan in 2014 when the Pakistan Army had launched an operation against militants in the tribal district.

The operation displaced close to a million people, most of them finding refuge in Bannu and DI Khan districts and elsewhere.

Some of the families living in villages close to the border crossed into Afghanistan where the Afghan government, in collaboration with the UN agencies, provided them shelter and assistance.

Then Fata Disaster Management Authority had established a relief camp in Bakkakhel area of Bannu where returnees from Afghanistan were initially kept for awhile before they were shifted to their villages in North Waziristan. The camp still exists with IDPs waiting for return.

The deputy commissioner said the returnees from Afghanistan would be provided food ration and cash grant.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2021