PESHAWAR, Aug 24: The anti-Taliban Adezai Qaumi Lashkar is likely to stop cooperating with police against militants and play an impartial role in the suburban localities of Peshawar.

A senior member of the lashkar told Dawn on Tuesday that the decision to stop support was taken some months ago but it was not disclosed.

“Now it is a compulsion of the anti-Taliban volunteers to announce it as they have developed serious differences with police officials,” he said.

He said that the lashkar had been formed by the locals on behest of the police and its founder head was former nazim of Adezai union council, Haji Abdul Malik, who initially supported Taliban but after his arrest in 2008 he deserted them.

Abdul Malik along with his bodyguards and many villagers was killed in a suicide attack   at a cattle market at Matani last year. His son Noor Malik and nephew Israr khan became commanders while Dilawar Khan was selected as the lashkar’s head after his death.

The source said that government was not ready to support the lashkar and that was why the volunteers were also not willing to sacrifice their lives. The basic reason of differences between police and the volunteers was that officials were not fulfilling their commitment regarding provision of arms, ammunitions and ration to them.

The lashkar head, Dilawar Khan, when contacted, also confirmed that they was really not ready to fight militants any longer but the decision would be made public within a couple of days.

He said that at least two dozens of the peace body workers had so far been killed in the fight against militants but government had not compensated their families while those killed in the rest of bomb blasts in Peshawar were properly compensated by the government.

“We are using our own weaponry against the militants and the government is not ready to support us in the war on terror,” he said. He added that government was taking billions of dollars in the name of war on terror but it was not supporting the anti-militants volunteers for unknown reasons.

Mr Khan said that the volunteers had time and again pointed out to police that militants were regrouping in and around Peshawar and there was dire need of operation against them but no official wanted to take the action. When asked if the lashkar wanted to strike a deal with Taliban, he said that it would not be a deal but the volunteers would not support the law enforcement agencies in the fight against militants.

The militants, he said, were after the aged members of the peace body and some four elderly men had been shot dead in local mosques during the past eight months for no fault. “It is a futile exercise, as our people have put their lives at stake, children have stopped going to schools and families cannot move freely,” he said.

However, SP Abdul Kalam Khan said that he had very good relations with the peace workers. He said that efforts would be made to remove the misconceptions between police and the volunteers.