LAKKI MARWAT, July 11: The security forces have called upon the elders of Bhetanni tribe to cooperate with them for maintenance of peace in Frontier Region of Lakki.

“Reports regarding presence of anti-social elements in the region have raised concerns. The tribal chiefs should play their role to expel such elements from the area,” security officials told a jirga in Tajori on Monday.

FR Lakki Political Agent Mohammad Fayaz Khan Sherpao and Political Tehsildar Bakhtiar were also present on the occasion. Tribal elders Malik Zaitullah, Malik Sher Afzal, Malik Tilla Mohammad, Malik Aqal Jan and Malik Saifullah attended the jirga.

“The tribal elders should ensure that militants will not infiltrate into the tribal area nor will they use their soil for carrying out subversive activities,” the officials said.

They said that tribesmen should be vigilant and keep an eagle eye on the activities of anti-social elements. “It is the prime responsibility of elders to play their role and use their influence for maintaining peace and tranquility in the tribal region,” they added.

They said that government and army were paying special attention to the development of tribal areas. They said that development was impossible without restoration of peace in the area.

“Peace and tranquility are inevitable for progress,” they told the jirga, adding the quarters concerned would be able to accelerate the pace of development if there was complete peace in the region.

The tribal elders assured the officials that they would assist security forces in action against militants to maintain peace in the region. They shed light on the problems being faced by tribal people and pledged that they would stop infiltration of militants at all costs and would launch action against them at their own.

“We will ask the administration and law enforcement agencies to help us in action against militants if we need it,” they added. PROTEST:

The activists of Awami Mafadaat Committee, a local welfare organisation, and some sacked employees of Lucky Cement Factory staged a protest demonstration in Darra Pezu here on Monday against the factory management.

Led by AMC office-bearers Haji Naser Jan and Haji Khursheed, ANP leader Fazalur Rahim Khan and sacked employees' union president Ismail Khan, the protesters marched through Pezu bazaar and chanted slogans.

They demanded of the factory management to provide free electricity facility to Darra Pezu town and rural areas in the radius of 10 kilometres of the power plant of the factory.

They also demanded of the management to set up an English medium high school, a technical college and a health facility in the town. They said that the poisonous smoke, dust and chemical waste of the factory were main causes of different diseases in the area.

“The management of Lucky Cement Factory should allocate special funds for eradicating these diseases,” they said.