KOHAT: The tribesmen belonging to Sannikhel tribe of the Darra Adamkhel tribal subdivision of Kohat on Tuesday blocked the Indus Highway near the friendship tunnel here for hours by placing the bodies of 11 persons, who were killed during a clash with the rival Akhorwal tribe on Monday evening, demanding action against their rivals.

The traffic remained suspended on this main artery for almost seven hours.

The rival tribes had traded heavy fire over a disputed mountain containing coal, killing 14 persons, mostly from Sunnikhel.

Meanwhile, army officials, Kohat deputy commissioner Azmatullah Wazir and district police officer Farhan Khan called a jirga of all the six tribes of the tribal subdivision and got signed a five-day truce between the warring tribes.

During the truce, negotiations would be held between the Sannikhel and Akhorwal elders to sort out their issue.

A clash over coal mining on Monday had claimed 14 lives

The Indus highway was blocked at 9am and remained blocked till 3.30pm, forcing the administration and army to hold talks with the Ulema Council of the Sannikhel tribe to reopen the road.

The tribesmen chanted slogans against the administration, demanding the arrest of the members of the Ulema council of the Akhorwal tribe, who they alleged had ignited fresh clashes over an old demarcation dispute dating back to 2019.

The protesters were led by members of the Ulema council, including Mufti Sanaullah Siddique, Maulana Saleem, Maulana Abdul Wahid and others.

They were demanding the arrest of Pir Atta and his four companions from the Akhorwal tribe for not asking the Akhorwal tribesmen to vacate the ‘occupied’ land belonging to Sannikhel.

A local official, Azam Khan told Dawn that Akhorwal tribesmen had violated the buffer zone on Monday, which had been marked by the army and the administration, leading to fresh clashes over four miles of a coal-laden mountain.

The highway was opened to traffic at 3.30pm after the Sannikhel tribe agreed to enter into a peace dialogue.

Also, a jirga of elders of the Akhorwal tribe was in progress at the Eagle Fort in Darra Adamkhel till filing of this report at 8.30pm.

STRIKE: Over 500 tubewell operators and sanitation staff of the Water Supply and Sanitation Company, Kohat, went on a strike the other day over non-payment of April salary.

President of the employees’ union Sohail Ahmed said the WSSC and tehsil municipal administration had promised to pay the outstanding salary last Monday, but to no avail.

He said the tehsil municipal administration, under an agreement, was bound to pay salaries to its staff, which was deputed to WSSC, while the latter was only to pay them a 20 per cent deputation allowance.

However, he said the TMA was claiming that it had no funds to pay the salaries, forcing the employees to go on a strike.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2023