face gigantic task of rebuilding their homes Locals say at least 40pc houses in Maidan

TIRAH, Khyber Agency: Though the displaced families have returned to Maidan area in Tirah valley after the successful military operation, they are struggling to rebuild their destroyed houses.
Thousands of families had left Maidan area in 2013 after the government launched military operation to purge the area of militants.
Many families are still living in tents and with relatives as they could not rebuild their houses due to lack of resources and support from the government.
Locals said at least 40 percent houses in Maidan were destroyed completely while 30 percent were without roofs.
Talking to The News, 85-year-old Janaat Khan Afridi belonging to Bar Qambarkhel tribe said that militants of various outfits attacked the fighters of pro-government Ansarul Islam, killing and injuring many of them along with civilians.
He said the Taliban occupied the territory, torched the houses and destroyed the infrastructure.
“The construction of my house, made of stone and wood, cost approximately Rs300,000 about 40 years ago. It was destroyed by the Taliban in the 2013 attacks,” he said.
He said their only sin was that they supported the Ansarul Islam against the Taliban to save their homeland.
The affected tribesman claimed that the government had given Rs25,000 compensation each to those tribesmen whose houses were destroyed.
“Unfortunately, the government has failed to provide us the required funds for rebuilding our damaged houses despite a lapse of three years after our return to the valley,” he said.
Another affectee, Naimat Khan Afridi, told this scribe that first the government pitted one tribal family against the other and then destroyed their houses.
He said that due to sectarian violence between Lashkar-i-Islam and Ansarul Islam in Khyber Agency, at least 1,000 tribesmen had been killed and 1,500 injured during the last seven years.
He added that the Taliban had torched his two-storey house having 10 rooms and a hujra.
He said the Taliban plundered and destroyed the houses of their opponents when they took control of Bar Bagh Maidan area three years ago. He alleged that they also took away the precious timber used in ceilings of most of the multi-storey houses.
Naimat Afridi said he with his family has been living in the valley for the last three years and compelled to bear the harsh winter season of Tirah in his roofless house as he lacks money to rebuild it.
“We have been waiting for the government’s announcement about compensation package for the affected people of Tirah Maidan valley for the last three years,” he said.
Hashim Khan Afridi of Malikdinkhel tribe said the Taliban had demolished his house. “I also lost my business three years ago,” he lamented.
He said most of the IDPs from Malikdinkhel, Bar Qambarkhel, Adamkhel, Zakhakhel and Shalobar tribes, who have returned to the native areas, believe that the government made a wrong decision in November 2013 by shifting them back to their homes as the valley is in the grip of chilly winter and most of the houses are not suitable for living.
“Most families have been living in tents after the security forces cleared the valley of the Taliban but the children and elderly people are at risk due to excessive rains and snowfall. It has made life miserable for them,” he said.
He said Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan had said that the government was committed to taking steps for implementation of a reconstruction and rehabilitation strategy in Fata but it seemed a joke with tribal people as no such plan is in evidence.