KHYBER: With the security forces expressing their stern resolve to go all-out against militant groups, whom they describe as Fitna-Al-Khwarij, the residents of Tirah still confirm the presence of such undesirable elements in some pockets of the valley.

Requesting anonymity during conversation with this scribe, they insisted that armed groups affiliated with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-i-Islam were still ‘visible’ and frequently mixing up with locals in Serrai Kandaw on border with Orakzai district, Thray village, Batti Kallay, Adamkhel, Shalobar, parts of Zakhakhel hilly terrain, Peer Mela, Sanda Pal and Buthan Shareef.

Confirming the ongoing intelligence-based operations against these groups and subsequent targeting of militant hideouts, they also said that a number of families in Shalobar, Adamkhel, Zakhakhel and Bhutan Shareef started relocating their children and women to safer places as some private houses were also damaged with the artillery shelling during the military operation.

They, however, hastened to add that it was not a mass exodus on the pattern of their previous displacement during the years 2010 to 2012 from the entire Tirah valley after the start of a fullfledged military operation.

Some locals have shifted women and children to safer places

“Healthy and adult members of these families are staying back for the safety of their houses while women and children have been temporarily sent to nearby safer locations,” a resident of Maidan told Dawn.

With security officials insisting that the operation was in the final stages, the three-pronged IBOs had restricted or to a certain extent prevented the movement of Khwarij as officials said that security forces effectively ‘marked’ their positions from Tirah, Orakzai and Kurram sides while militants also suffered numerous casualties as were claimed by Inter-Services Public Relations wing of army.

ISPR said that an offensive was launched against Fitna-Al-Khwarij with the active engagement of Special Services Group (SSG) light commandos and ground forces aided by artillery and helicopter gunships.

Security officials claimed to have successfully flushed out Khwarijs from Rajgal and nearby bordering areas near the Afghanistan border. They said that those ‘miscreants’ were now on the run towards Orakzai and Kurram.

However, the situation in the areas on the border with Orakzai is still tense as residents in these localities argue that though the number of armed militants has decreased since the launch of the military operation, they are still living under an umbrella of fear and uncertainty while TTP and LI men are still roaming around.

“Of course they (Taliban) have so far not threatened or intimidated local population as they would do in the past but their very presence is a constant source of threat and fear,” said a resident of Warsak while insisting he should not be quoted with his name.

He said that they were neither comfortable with the presence of militants nor with the launch of military operations as both were disturbing the hard earned peace of the valley.

“With such a hostile environment, all the development schemes have been completely halted in Tirah with children not attending to their schools and shopkeepers in local markets complaining about a considerable reduction in the number of their customers,” he said and insisting that government should fulfil its responsibility of ensuring durable peace in the valley and safeguarding the life and honour of locals.

When asked about the identity of armed men, sources acknowledged the presence of local TTP and LI affiliates and said that some ‘outsiders’ were also among those, who penetrated their areas in the recent times.

“Though at times we come close to these men but no one could dare ask their identity as they seldom talk to locals,” they remarked.

Some video footage of armed men sitting atop a hillock, overlooking the valley and their patrolling of an unspecified village were also doing rounds on social media, the authenticity of the exact location or the timing of videos could not be independently verified.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2024