LANDI KOTAL, Feb 19: There are no doctors in Sheen Qamar area of Khyber Agency’s Bara tehsil for security reasons to the misery of local residents.

According to locals, the situation has led to high incidence of diseases, especially that of chest and throat infections among children and women.

Most inhabitants of Sheen Qamar area, which is located near the border of Orakzai Agency, are members of Zaodin-Zakhakhel, which is considered a pro-government tribe.

They told Dawn that a local militant organisation, Lashkar-i-Islam, had restricted their free movement for two and a half years against creation of a tribal lashkar and cooperation to security forces by them.

They said the situation had stressed them out, especially when it came to treatment of unwell people.

Sabeelullah Jan, a local resident, said neither there existed any health facility in the area nor were doctors willing to come to the area and as a result, they had to take patients to Peshawar and Jamrud for treatment.

He said the people mostly relied on the military convoys for movement of patients between their area and Peshawar and Jamrud.

“It always depends upon the sweet will of security personnel when they arrange the convoy and how many people they take along,” he said.

The resident said at times, the people had to wait for two to three weeks for a military convoy to take them to Jamrud or home from there.

He said several local patients had been waiting for the military convoy in Shah Kas.

Mir Said, another local resident, said Baz Garha Bazaar in the area had been closed causing shortage of kitchen items.

“Activists of Lashkar-i-Islam don’t allow us to bring food and other household items home. Mostly, they snatch such things at gunpoint,” he said.

Mr Said, who himself had been stranded in Shah Kas for a week, said unavailability of doctors or health workers had led to death of many women in the area.

“Lashkar-i-Islam activists don’t let our women step out,” he said.

Local elder Khawaja Khan said his tribe was paying a heavy price for supporting security forces and raising a tribal lashkar.

He complained that repeated requests of the people to the administration for smooth supply of food and medical goods had fallen on deaf ears.

The elder demanded appointment of doctors to Sheen Qamar area.

He also demanded establishment of security checkposts along Baz Garha-Sheen Qamar Road for the protection of motorists and commuters.