Normalcy returning to Fata due to Zarb-e-Azb: President

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday said that operation Zarb-e-Azb had produced positive results and the situation was returning to normal in seven agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Talking to a delegation of tribal elders from FATA that called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr here, the president said the government had allocated a large sum for resettlement of displaced persons. Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan and tribal elders from seven agencies were present on the occasion.

He said that the return of displaced persons to their homes of three agencies of tribal areas had been completed while the return of the people of the other three agencies would be completed soon. He lauded the immense sacrifices of the people of FATA and said that reforms committee of the government was working on priority basis for the betterment of FATA. The situation of FATA will improve further after introducing reforms there, the President remarked.

He emphasized that no constitutional change would be introduced without taking the people of FATA into confidence.The President underlined that the government would leave no stone unturned in rehabilitation of infrastructure in FATA destroyed due to terrorist activities. He said that the development of education institutions, road networks and construction of hospitals are basic priorities of the government. The maximum employment opportunities would be created in tribal areas, he added.