Jirga asks militants to leave Tirah

BARA: The elders from the Bar Qambarkhel tribe on Wednesday held a jirga at Maidan area in Tirah valley asking the militants to leave their area.

The jirga members presented the copies of the Holy Quran to the local militants in a bid to urge them to leave their area.A number of elders, religious scholars, youth and other residents participated in the jirga.

The speakers said that maintaining peace in the Tirah valley was everyone’s responsibility and the presence of any armed group was a threat to peace and development of the area.The elders made it clear that militancy had pushed the area towards backwardness and now silence was not an option any more.

They said that they suffered heavy losses due to militancy. The elders said they needed the restoration of peace so that they could avail health and education facilities.They demanded the government to take steps for the restoration of peace and execute uplift projects in the remote Tirah valley to facilitate the people.

The elders said that Tirah had already lagged far behind in development. “We can no more afford to abandon our homes,” an elder said, adding that the local people were fed up with lawlessness and wanted the restoration of peace.