SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: A delegation representing nine clans of the Sultankhel tribe from Toi Khulla tehsil has expressed concern over the alleged failure of the Lower South Waziristan district administration to stop ‘influential’ individuals from grabbing their land in the Gul Kach and Zarmelan areas here.

Speaking at a news conference at the District Press Club in Wana on Monday, Sardar Nasir Khan, who led the delegation, said the Gul Kach and Zarmelan areas were his ancestral lands, inhabited by the nine clans of the Sultankhel tribe.

He emphasised that two legal cases regarding the area were currently pending in the court and that the community was pursuing its rights through legal and constitutional channels.

Mr Khan said that approximately 500 acres of land were under a court-issued stay order. Despite this, he claimed, portions of the disputed land were recently occupied, prompting the filing of formal complaints and the launch of a protest campaign.

“Despite our efforts, the district administration, police, and security agencies have yet to take any effective action,” he added.

He questioned why, if the land is disputed, people are being settled there now, while no such settlement occurred 15 to 20 years ago.

He also noted that notices have not been issued to relevant parties, fuelling suspicions that influential individuals are being shielded from legal action.

The tribal elder warned that if their legitimate demands were ignored and immediate steps were not taken by the administration, police and security agencies, they would stage a sit-in outside the press club, and would also extend it to Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2026