ABBOTTABAD, Jan 8: People of Kakul, Mirpur and Nawansher villages have threatened that if roads closed by the army for general public on the pretext of security are not opened in 10 days they will block the Karakoram Highway to register their protest.

A joint meeting of the people of the three villages was held in Nawansher on Monday, which was also attended by elite and notables of area, leaders of political parties and union council nazims. The meeting discussed the closure of various roads by the army which they said hampered locals’ mobility in the area.

People expressed concern over the closure of roads in the area surrounding the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul. They said that they had been using the roads for decades.

The participants said that villagers had given their prime land for the academy and at present they were denied the easement rights in the name of security by the army authorities.

Former provincial minister Shamroz Khan Jadoon, union nazims and local political leaders spoke at the meeting.

Union nazims alleged that army personnel deputed at the barricaded points on the road treated women and older people rudely.

They said that the closure of roads had hit the mobility of the people and had become a source of misery for the villagers. People and students faced hardships to reach their workplaces and educational institutions.

They claimed that the army had acquired the land for the Kakul military academy under a memorandum that easy access would be provided to residents of the area. Special passes were issued for vehicles and they were allowed to use the main academy road to go to Kakul village. But, at present, they said, the facility was withdrawn and the roads were closed for public.