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| North Waziristan militants unilaterally scrap peace deal |
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Monday, July 16, 2007
Rahimullah Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Tribal militants in North Waziristan tribal region unilaterally scrapped their 10-month-old peace accord with the government on Sunday on the expiry of a four-day deadline and threatened to launch guerilla-style attacks against the security forces in the area.
Abdullah Farhad, a spokesman for the militants, said their Shura, or council, under the leadership of Hafiz Gul Bahadur had decided to end the peace accord and ordered their fighters to start guerilla attacks against the security forces deployed in North Waziristan. He said the Taliban fighters were advised not to launch attacks in populated areas so that civilians were saved from the consequences.
The militants, who prefer being called Pakistani Taliban, had threatened to end the accord by July 15 if the Pakistan Army troops redeployed at several roadside checkpoints in North Waziristan were not withdrawn. They termed it a violation of the controversial peace accord signed last year on September 5.
The Governor of the NWFP, Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai, who was the architect of the accord, told The News that the government was trying to save the peace agreement. He said he met tribal elders and Ulema who were members of the peace committee on Saturday to contact the militants and convince them not to scrap the accord and help in maintaining peace in North Waziristan.
“We had complaints that the local Taliban were not fulfilling some of the promises they had made in the peace accord. They too were accusing the government of failing to honour the agreement. We are trying to engage them in a bid to keep the accord intact,” he said.
The governor argued that troops were deployed at the checkpoints following some attacks on security forces and in view of an increase in incidents of kidnapping, car-lifting, gun-running and other crimes. He said the soldiers could be withdrawn once the law and order situation improves in North Waziristan. “Even otherwise, the checking at the checkposts is done by the Frontier Corps personnel and the Khassadars. The soldiers have been deployed there for back-up support,” he said.
Soon after the expiry of the militants’ deadline on Sunday, leaflets announcing the scrapping of the peace accord were distributed in the town of Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan. It prompted scores of families to shift from Miranshah to safer place places outside the troubled North Waziristan tribal region. People fearing violence were leaving for Bannu and other places and taking with them some of their belongings.
Speaking from an undisclosed location, Abdullah Farhad said tribal elders were being warned not to cooperate with the government and tribesmen serving in the local Levies and Khassadar security force had been directed to stay away from Pakistan Army troops operating in North Waziristan. He said the militants would punish those who would violate their orders. He said tribesmen who were using their vehicles to supply the Pakistan Army troops in North Waziristan would also be punished if they didn’t terminate their contracts with the military authorities.
Abdullah Farhad alleged that the military operations were undertaken and air raids ordered by Pakistan Army in North Waziristan in violation of the peace accord. He said the promised compensation to tribesmen for human and material losses suffered by them during the military operation was not paid again in violation of the agreement.
Later in the evening, the militants’ spokesman claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing Sunday that killed 26 people, including 15 policemen and 11 candidates who had gathered for police recruitment, and injured more than 50 in the Police Lines in Dera Ismail Khan, a southern district of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).
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ISSN 1563-9479 
