NORTH WAZIRISTAN: The Residents of Zafar Town here on Sunday staged a demonstration in front of the Miramshah Press Club against the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) for stopping distribution of ration to them and not paying enough compensation to rehabilitate their houses and other properties battered during the operation Zarb-i-Azb.

They warned of staging a demonstration in front of the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi if their demands were not met within five days.

It merits a mention here that residents of Zafar Town had been driven out of their houses due to terrorist activities and consequent military operation to flush them out of the region.

Addressing the protesters, ANP local leader Abdul Khalil said people of North Waziristan had vacated their houses due to operation Zarb-i-Azb. He said when internally displaced persons returned to their areas they saw their houses were destroyed. He said very small amount of compensation was being paid to the affected people, adding that PDMA provided meager ration to them. He, however, regretted that the disaster management body had stopped providing the local residents with ration for the last seven months.

The other protest leaders pointed out that the tribesmen had left their ancestral lands and houses for the sake of country and restoration of peace, but the authorities had failed to acknowledge their sacrifices.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2022