DABARA (TANK), July 8: Uncertainty was writ large on the face of sixty-year-old Hidayatullah Mehsud, as he was set to embark on return journey to his home in Spinkai Raghzai, South Waziristan, on Friday after spending two years in a camp in Dera Ismail Khan.

Standing beside the bus at a facilitation center in Dabara, some 15 kilometres west of Tank, which was to take him and his family back to his home, the tribesman was looking upset and hesitant to set off for his village though he had spent about two years of his life in miserable conditions as a displaced person.

“I am happy that I am returning home, where I lived for decades, yet fear haunts us and we are not sure whether life will be the same again as it was before our displacement,” he says.

“Is there any guarantee that Taliban will not return to the area and nobody will play with our lives,” asked the tribesman while wiping sweat from his forehead before embarking the bus.

There was no enthusiasm among those set to return to their homes. They have been facing a dilemma as they neither wanted to continue their stay as IDPs in relief camps nor to return to their permanent abodes in haste because of uncertainty and fear.

Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) in collaboration with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and military is facilitating the return programme of the Mehsud IDPs, who fled their homes after security forces launched operation in the area to flush out Taliban militants.

Two military trucks escorting some 100 displaced families left the facilitation centre at Dabara and set off for Spinkai Raghzai. Soldiers have erected razor wire fence around Dabara camp where the IDPs from Dera Ismail Khan and Tank are assembled and registered before leaving for South Waziristan.

Journey on the newly-constructed Jandola-Sararogha Road was very smooth as the convoy started from the facilitation centre. But there was no general traffic and hustle and bustle on the carpeted road. The Pakistan Army has recently constructed the highway that links South Waziristan with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Heavy presence of the army along the main road gave the sense to the visitors that they were heading towards a war zone. There are checkpoints after every three to four kilometers and local people have been issued special entry cards.

Every male and female has to show entry pass at these checkpoints. Vehicles are properly searched. These activities present a scene as if the tribal people are entering into another country.

Few years ago, the residents of South Waziristan were living a relatively peaceful life and economic activities were going on in the area, but now it looks depopulated and like a ghost region.

Insurgency has changed Waziristan. Fort-like houses have been flattened. Damaged schools, health facilities and other infrastructure have become the hallmark of the tribal agency.

The concrete walls of some partially damaged houses were bearing marks of the artillery shells, rockets and heavy guns. The militants have either gone underground or moved to other locations.

The FDMA had started the return programme last year, but only 4,502 of total 69,279 registered displaced families had gone back to their homes by the end of June last. The government has also launched Shelter Kit Project under which displaced Mehsuds are provided a pair of T-iron, bricks and other material for reconstruction of their houses.

Return process is very slow tough the government has been paying cash amount and providing free transportation to encourage tribal people to go back to their area. Despite financial incentives and heavy deployment of the security forces fear looms large in the area.

A small bazaar, comprising shops, tea and food stalls in front of the Frontier Corps Fort in Jandola has been eliminated by the security forces. In the past, passengers would take rest at these stalls before starting their onward journey.

But, now the security forces have pitched a small tent at the place where the vehicles entering South Waziristan are registered. The only visible development work is the construction of the main road between Jandola and Sararogha.

The terror war has cost dearly to the people of tribal borderlands, whose social life has been ruined. There are no basic civic amenities in the area and those which existed before the rise of the militants have been destroyed. The tribal people have lost everything to the war. But, the risk still exists.