PESHAWAR, Jan 11: A tribal jirga comprising Fata parliamentarians and elders urged the government to forthwith stop the military operation in the tribal belt, specially South Waziristan Agency, on the pretext of flushing out Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants.

The jirga, held at the Jinnah Park here on Saturday against the training of Khasadar Force, also demanded withdrawal of the decision of annexing parts of tribal areas with the adjacent settled districts.

A large number of tribal elders, tribesmen and elected representatives attended the jirga. The participants said that they would raise voice against the military operation launched in the tribal areas and also oppose imparting training to the Khasadar Force.

The jirga said that the tribal people would protest against the government decision to annex about 25 villages of Mohmand Agency with the settled districts.

The jirga demanded that the police force deployed in the disputed villages in Mohmand Agency should be recalled. MNA Maulana Ghulam Sadiq from Mohmand Agency, Malik Darya Khan, Mian Shahjehan Khan and other tribal leaders spoke at the jirga.

The jirga decided that the tribal elders and Maliks would withdraw support to the official machinery, if the government did not stop the military operation launched in the South Waziristan Agency and other tribal areas.

The jirga said that the tribal elders and Maliks would be exempted from their responsibility under the collective responsibility system in vogue in the tribal areas and would withdraw any cooperation to the administration if the government failed to meet their demands.