‘Powers being transferred to civil admin in Malakand’

TIMERGARA: Corps Commander Peshawar Lt-Gen Shaheen Mazhar Mehmood said on Monday powers were being transferred to civil administration in the Malakand division.

Speaking at a grand jirga of local elders and heads of the departments at the Dir Scouts Fort here at Balambat, he said security forces would return to barracks once lasting peace was restored to the area.

General Officer Commanding (GOC), Malakand division, Maj-Gen Khalid Saeed, Commandant Dir Task Force (DTF) Col Shehzad Ameer, Lower Dir District Nazim Muhammad Rasul Khan, District Police Officer (DPO) Dir Lower Arif Shahbaz Wazir, tehsil Timergara nazim Riaz Muhammad and a large number of local government representatives and local elders were present on the occasion.

Lt-Gen Shaheen Mazhar announced that all government buildings being used by security forces for security reasons, including schools and hospitals, would be vacated within a week. The corps commander announced that the people who had been led astray in the past would be welcomed if they renounced militancy.