PESHAWAR, Jan 17: The youths hailing from Bajaur Agency on Tuesday held a demonstration in protest against the killing of 18 people in a US airstrike in Damadola village on Friday. The protesters holding placards and banners chanted slogans against the United States and condemned the attack on the three houses in the village.

The angry tribesmen, who were gathered in front of the Peshawar Press Club under the banner of the Bajaur Youth Movement (BYM), called upon the political administration to release those arrested during the demonstrations sparked off by the US attack.

BYM president Samiullah Turrabi, speaking on the occasion, urged the federal government to provide compensation to heirs of the deceased and condemn the US attack as an act of terrorism. He said the federal government should step down as it had failed to provide security to its citizens from foreign aggression. He also criticized the Pakistan army’s role.

General secretary Nazir Rehman condemned the airstrike and said that the US and its allies had been targeting innocent people in the name of the so-called war against terrorism.

The protesters threatened that if the government did not provide any solace to the residents of Bajaur Agency then they would launch a movement and observe a hunger strike in Peshawar.—Bureau Report