KHYBER: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday wondered who would guarantee peace after the conclusion of the recently launched military operation in Tirah area of Khyber tribal district and said decisions were still being made behind closed doors despite repeated failures.

Addressing the operation-affected families at the Paindi Cheena registration centre in Upper Bara, Mr Afridi said the military operation was forcibly launched to the suffering of residents.

“I and my nation are being targeted for opposing such policies. We were never part of these failed policies and won’t be part of them in the future,” he said.

Mr Afridi said that 22 major and 14,000 small security operations had been carried out, so he just wondered who would guarantee the return of peace after the conclusion of another operation.

Insists decisions still being made behind closed doors

He said the PTI was declared the supporters of militants whenever it demanded a change of failed policies.

Meanwhile, a statement from the chief minister’s secretariat quoted Mr Afridi as saying “what was happening” to the people of Tirah was unacceptable.

He said his government had always raised its voice for peace.

“I am one of you [residents] and will stand with you until my last breath,” he said.

Mr Afridi said that the protection of the affected people was his responsibility and any negligence in addressing the problems of the Tirah affected families would be intolerable.

He ordered all relevant departments to take emergency measures to immediately alleviate the difficulties faced by the Tirah affected families and warned that stopping people and subjecting them to humiliation in queues would not be tolerated under any circumstances.

The chief minister ordered the establishment of additional Nadra offices on an emergency basis to expedite the registration process.

The visit to the registration centre came over the growing criticism of the administration’s failure to provide facilities to the displaced families from Tirah.

Hailing from the Shalobar tribe of Tirah, the CM was also criticised by people for visiting Karachi at a time when thousands of Tirah families were stranded on the main road between Tirah and Bara. Most families had to wait for days and spend sleepless nights in severe cold to get themselves registered for the promised monetary assistance.

Police in Paindi Cheena reportedly arrested eight people for demanding money from displaced families for early registration.

Sources said that detainees collected Rs2,000 from every family for providing them with fake registration tokens and identity cards.

Meanwhile, officials of the district administration said that complete registration of 6,000 displaced families had been completed at the Paindi Cheena Centre while initial tokens were issued to 27,000 families.

Earlier, authorities alleged that hundreds of undeserving persons from Bara and Bazar Zakhakhel areas had tried to get themselves registered in order to get financial assistance.

They said a crackdown would be initiated on such people after the completion of the biometric verification of Tirah families.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2026