MIRAMSHAH: A large number of tribesmen staged a peace rally in Mirali tehsil of North Waziristan district on Sunday.

The people came out onto the roads and passed through the Mirali Bazaar, demanding peace in their region. The participants were holding white flags, huge banners and placards. They were chanting slogans for peace.

Utmanzai jirga spokesman Mufti Baitullah had announced the peace march during a meeting on August 12. Apart from leaders of Utmanzai jirga, leaders of a local political alliance and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement had also participated in the jirga.

The protesters demanded steps to arrest the deteriorating law and order situation. They also demanded ownership on their resources.

Addressing the participants, Mufti Baitullah said that it was clearly written in the agreement struck with the government that the responsibility of establishing peace lied with the state, but the government was repeatedly deviating from its promise, forcing people to come onto the streets.

The protesters set September 15 as deadline for the government to accept their demands or they warned of expediting their protest campaign.

It merits a mention here that Mirali tehsil has been in the grip of insecurity for the past several years. Apart from targeted killing, kidnapping for ransom, attacks by militants on security forces and police are taking place almost on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, one person was killed and another injured in a targeted killing incident in Mirali on Sunday.

Local sources said that family members of journalist, Qadir Dawar, were fired upon by unknown miscreants near Hormuz high school. As a result of firing, Qadir Dawar’s cousin, Neak Zaali Shah was killed, while his brother, Rehman Nazir was injured. The deceased and the injured were shifted to Mirali Hospital.

The police reached the spot, collected the evidence and started searching for the attackers.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2024