PESHAWAR, July 20: Fata Grand Alliance convener Karim Mehsud has said Pakistan must robustly retaliate any foreign aggression against Fata, otherwise tribesmen are ready to protect their land.

Tribesmen are capable of protecting their land against a foreign aggression but it is the prime responsibility of the Pakistan Army to protect Pakistan’s territory against any aggression. However, if the government failed to protect Fata, tribesmen will stand unite to protect their soil, Mr Mehsud said on Friday while reacting to threats of foreign aggression against Fata.

The peace accord in North Waziristan had been scrapped because of immense pressure being put on Pakistan in order to disturb the situation in Waziristan and pave the way for foreign aggression, but tribesmen would not bow before any foreign power and would fight till last to protect their soil, he said.

Mr Mehsud, who is also president of the Fata Lawyers Forum, said the peace accord was in favour of Pakistan, but the US had opposed it from day one and had been putting pressure on the Pakistan government to scrap it.

Pakistan must avoid further deployment of troops in Waziristan and must accommodate new proposals of the opposite side so the accord could be revived and made permanent and further destruction could be avoided, he said.

He said the government had violated the basic clause of the peace agreement by deploying troops in North Waziristan. Infuriated at this, tribesmen scraped the accord. However, involvement of some hidden hands could not be ruled out in violation of the accord on the part of the tribesmen, he said. The government, he added, should restore the shaken trust of the tribesmen to save the accord. “The pact was contributing towards peace and tranquillity. Therefore, it should be saved at any cost,” Mr Mehsud said, adding that it seemed the government was not sincerely endeavouring to keep the accord intact.

Sending the official-sponsored jirga to negotiate with tribesmen seems to be a gimmick because it does not include true tribal representatives.—PPI