KHYBER: The deadlock between the government and the Kukikhel tribesmen over the return of the displaced families to their native areas in Tirah valley persists as the latter’s protest camp set up on the main Peshawar-Torkham highway completed one month on Friday.

The government’s negotiating team is led by Peshawar commissioner.

Both sides held their first meeting at the office of the commissioner Peshawar on Wednesday with the official team insisting on delaying the IDPs’ return till March due to security situation in the region and also the approaching winter.

Sources told Dawn that Peshawar commissioner Riaz Mehsud assured the Kukikhel elders that their demands for a comprehensive aid package, provision of security to returning families and a survey of the damaged houses would be met, while the displaced families’ return will start in March next year.

They said that the Kukikhel elders wanted the officials to at least allow families from Thor Sapar, Kachkol and Babar areas to return before the onset of winter.

The official team, it was further learnt, asked for some time for consultations with the security officials till Thursday, but no meeting could be held either on Thursday or Friday due to official engagements of the commissioner.

Meanwhile, the protesting Kukikhel tribesmen stayed put at the Bagiyari checkpost where they have established their tent camp since August 21, disrupting movement of heavy vehicles, which caused suspension of bilateral trade with Afghanistan via the Torkhm border.

Transporters, however, said that they took to the alternate Shalman-Malagori and Ali Masjid-Jabba roads to shift over 500 stranded vehicles loaded mostly with perishable food items during the last four weeks.

Meanwhile, Zwan Kukikhel, an organisation of young tribesmen, has announced a public meeting at the Bagiyari checkpost, for which a date is yet to be announced.

Its members said that they would invite leadership of all the mainstream political parties to the protest meeting to demand an early return of the remaining 6,000 displaced families to Tirah.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2024