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Wazirs ask Mehsud families to leave their area
Wazirs ask Mehsud families to leave their area
Wazirs ask Mahsud families to leave their area
Mushtaq Yusufzai
Thursday, March 10, 2011
PESHAWAR: The Ahmadzai Wazir tribesmen and tribal militants in South Waziristan led by Maulvi Nazeer on Wednesday moved against Mahsud militants and gave a three-day deadline to the displaced Mahsud families to leave the Wazirs’ soil or face action.
Some people felt it would widen the differences between the Ahmadzai Wazirs and Mahsud people and also between the militants of the two tribes. Sardar Malik Arif Wazir, who is leader of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), said he was leading the volunteer force of armed tribesmen that would expel the Mahsud families from villages and towns of Ahmadzai Wazirs in Wana and Shakai valley.
Thousands of Mahsud families were displaced when the government launched military operation against TTP leader Hakimullah Mahsud and his fighters in South Waziristan on October 17, 2008.
Around 1,800 families took shelter with the Ahmadzai Wazirs in Wana and Shakai valley after displacement. Malik Arif Wazir told The News by phone from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, that majority of these displaced families had links with Taliban.
“Since we have signed accord with the government and restored peace to the region, these Mahsud militants wanted to take benefit of the situation and settle scores with the government and security forces in our region,” explained the leader of tribal lashkar.
Malik Arif claimed their men had picked up seven Mahsud militants in Wana along with rocket launchers, AK-47 assault rifles and explosives which they wanted to use against the security forces on their soil.
Seven of them, he claimed, had been put in private prison run by the tribal lashkar. He said all the nine sub-tribes of Ahmadzai Wazir held a meeting and decided to expel the displaced Mahsuds from their villages within three days.
The lashkar would then demolish houses of tribesmen and impose fine if displaced Mahsuds were found living with them after expiry of the deadline. Similarly, the lashkar head said, if a Mahsud militant was found in the area, he would be put in the private jail and might be handed over to the government later, but the lashkar would demolish house of the tribesman and evict him along with family from South Waziristan.
It has been a demand by the government from Ahmadzai Wazirs for the past few months to expel the displaced Mahsuds from their area, which the tribes had refused in the past. The tribes have now restored their friendly relations with the government and pledged to maintain order in the area and expel the foreign fighters and other unwanted elements.
Wazirs ask Mahsud families to leave their area
Wazirs ask Mahsud families to leave their area
Mushtaq Yusufzai
Thursday, March 10, 2011
PESHAWAR: The Ahmadzai Wazir tribesmen and tribal militants in South Waziristan led by Maulvi Nazeer on Wednesday moved against Mahsud militants and gave a three-day deadline to the displaced Mahsud families to leave the Wazirs’ soil or face action.
Some people felt it would widen the differences between the Ahmadzai Wazirs and Mahsud people and also between the militants of the two tribes. Sardar Malik Arif Wazir, who is leader of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), said he was leading the volunteer force of armed tribesmen that would expel the Mahsud families from villages and towns of Ahmadzai Wazirs in Wana and Shakai valley.
Thousands of Mahsud families were displaced when the government launched military operation against TTP leader Hakimullah Mahsud and his fighters in South Waziristan on October 17, 2008.
Around 1,800 families took shelter with the Ahmadzai Wazirs in Wana and Shakai valley after displacement. Malik Arif Wazir told The News by phone from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, that majority of these displaced families had links with Taliban.
“Since we have signed accord with the government and restored peace to the region, these Mahsud militants wanted to take benefit of the situation and settle scores with the government and security forces in our region,” explained the leader of tribal lashkar.
Malik Arif claimed their men had picked up seven Mahsud militants in Wana along with rocket launchers, AK-47 assault rifles and explosives which they wanted to use against the security forces on their soil.
Seven of them, he claimed, had been put in private prison run by the tribal lashkar. He said all the nine sub-tribes of Ahmadzai Wazir held a meeting and decided to expel the displaced Mahsuds from their villages within three days.
The lashkar would then demolish houses of tribesmen and impose fine if displaced Mahsuds were found living with them after expiry of the deadline. Similarly, the lashkar head said, if a Mahsud militant was found in the area, he would be put in the private jail and might be handed over to the government later, but the lashkar would demolish house of the tribesman and evict him along with family from South Waziristan.
It has been a demand by the government from Ahmadzai Wazirs for the past few months to expel the displaced Mahsuds from their area, which the tribes had refused in the past. The tribes have now restored their friendly relations with the government and pledged to maintain order in the area and expel the foreign fighters and other unwanted elements.
Wazirs ask Mahsud families to leave their area
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