KHAR, Sept 7: Political administration of Bajaur Agency on Friday started registration of people displaced due to fighting between security forces and militants in Salarzai tehsil near Afghan border.

Talking to media persons, Bajaur political agent Abdul Jabbar Shah said that the administration in collaboration with Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) had launched registration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Salarzai tribe.

“Four registration points have been established in different areas to find out exact number of the affected persons,” Mr Shah said. He said that officials of the administration, levies forces and FDMA, and notables of the conflict zones were taking parts in registration and distribution of food items.

He said that the administration wanted to register all the tribesmen affected due to law and order situation as IDPs in border areas of the region. He said that providing IDP status to affected people was the demand of political parties and elders of the area.

The local political leaders and representatives of Bajaur political alliance had threatened protest against the federal government if the wellbeing of affected people was ignored.

Meanwhile, an administration official claimed that distribution of food packages had been started among the affected people of Salarzai area.

An official told media persons here at Khar that food items had been provided to 15,00 families of the war-affected border villages.

“The initial phase of food distribution would continue for a week and all the people who were affected by the conflict would be facilitated in this programme,” the official said. He said that several distribution points had been established in government schools and health centers in various areas of the region.

The official said that the foods packages were provided by the federal government while no NGO had so far sent any such succor for the war-affected people.

He said that a distribution board comprising officials of the administration, FDMA, tribal elders and local representatives of different political parties had been set up to monitor the food distribution.—Correspondent