KOHAT, Oct 4 Authorities on Saturday warned a representative jirga of the six tribes belonging to the Frontier Region (FR), Kohat to ensure security of government property including Indus Highway and the Kohat Tunnel, which was their duty in order to avoid action against them.

The District Coordination Officer, Siraj Ahmed, told Dawn on Saturday that a 25-member jirga of the six main tribes of FR, Kohat, Akhorwal, Zarghunkhel, Sheraki, Bostikhel, Jawaki and Tor Chappar met him.

During the talks he asked the tribesmen to fulfill their duty and protect the lives and property of the people and save schools, offices, Wapda and PTCL installations from the attacks of the militants. Otherwise, the administration would be forced to take action against the respective tribe, which failed to protect the government property under Clause 21 of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR).

To a question that all such efforts made in the past had failed miserably, he remarked, “Let's hope for the good and provide the tribesmen a chance to take a final decision before we draw any conclusions. It is a difficult task, but the tribesmen will to have to help the government control the menace.”

The members of the jirga demanded sometime for discussing the matter with the sub-clans before providing any surety of the safety of government property. The jirga would again meet on October 11 to take a unanimous decision and then held a final round of talks with the administration in this regard.

Independent sources, however said that the tribal elders were of the opinion that they were not in a position to face the militants who were becoming stronger with every passing day in all the tribal areas. They had no resources and power to stop the militants from attacking the government property and even the security forces had failed to control them.

The elders demanded that the government should tackle the issue and solve the matter either through talks or by force so that they could also return and live peacefully in their homes.

KOHAT TUNNEL CLOSURE The Kohat Tunnel on the Indus Highway was closed unannounced an hour earlier then scheduled causing problems to thousands of commuters who had to stop at the toll plaza here on Saturday.

The security forces had closed the road passing through Darra Adamkhel after exchanging fire with the militants. The Kohat Tunnel management was asked to stop all vehicles at the toll plaza at around 4 pm. The tunnel opening timings are from 7 am to 7 pm. Therefore the commuters waited for an hour in the hope that the tunnel would be opened. And the people from the far-flung areas going to Peshawar after Eid vacations would be allowed to pass through the tunnel.

However, after one hour the security forces decided to close the tunnel and informed the management of this in the evening. Thousands of commuters were asked to return back and clear the road at around 5.15 pm.

The National Highway Authority spokesperson, Kashif, said that there had been a little change in timings of the opening of the tunnel and hoped that if the situation remained normal the timings would be observed strictly to avoid causing inconvenience to the people from Sunday.