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| Afghan Tajiks take control of Buner |
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: The frightened people of Buner, which has now fallen into the hands of the Taliban, have given horrible accounts of their ordeal, saying they were driven out of their homes at gunpoint by Afghan Tajiks.
ìLet the whole Pakistan know that we have been invaded by the Afghan Tajiks who have come from the other side of the border. They are not the local Taliban the media has wrongly reported,î said an elderly man who, along with his wife and son, fled to Islamabad after his house was occupied and his marble factory was taken over.
These Afghan Tajiks are said to be using interpreters to communicate with the local Pakhtoons as they do not understand Pashtu. The families, who have escaped from Buner and its adjoining areas to save their lives, told The News that the Tajiks were looting and plundering their assets and properties. “They are occupying our businesses and destroying our homes,” the man said.
“For God sake, why don’t you people listen to our cries as we have been invaded by the Afghan Tajiks, not Pakistanis. Our families and honour are in danger,” said another man who too has fled to Islamabad along with his family. He wept in front of this correspondent while narrating his sad story of how he was driven out of his home at gunpoint.
He fled to Islamabad along with four other families after his factory and four petrol pumps of his friends were captured by the Afghan Taliban, where they have set up their camps. “I can swear on Holy Quran that those who have captured our village are Afghan nationals. You people sitting in Islamabad cannot imagine what sort of hell they have unleashed on us after advancing from Swat to our areas,” he said, sobbing. The details of these families are being kept secret for security reasons, as they have left their relatives back in Buner.
The man said as the people of Buner heard about the arrival of the Taliban from Swat, they formed a Lashkar to fight them. But, he lamented, the local police and law enforcement agencies facilitated them to capture the area.
“I am a local Pathan and I know who is a local and who is a foreigner. Our lands have been occupied by the Afghan Tajiks and no one is helping us to fight them. Rather, the Pakistani media and politicians are backing those who have invaded us,” he claimed.
“I have just received a phone call from my domestic servant that my house has been taken over by these Afghan Tajiks and they have destroyed everything there,” he further said. He said he was targeted because he was part of the Jirga that had held talks with the Tajik invaders. “I knew they will kill me. I lifted my elderly mother in my arms and crossed the mountains along with other family members and reached a nearby road and hired a taxi to reach Islamabad. I cannot sleep as the families of my brothers and sisters are still trapped in the village.”
“They are not Muslims at all who have occupied our lands. They are just ruthless people who have been given a free hand to rule over us and now they are playing with our lives and properties while the media, politicians and even the Army are watching silently,” he said.
“Let me warn you, if you do not stand up against these Afghan Tajiks, the people of Islamabad will soon become their target.”
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ISSN 1563-9479 
