Angry protesters demolish toll plaza in Jamrud

JAMRUD: The protesters on Saturday razed to the ground a toll plaza on the Pak-Afghan Highway, saying the government had announced tax exemption for the tribal districts after the merger of the former tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The protesters, led by local elders, including Ahmad Khan, Haji Wahid, Zahid and others, said that it was unjust on part of the government to collect taxes from the people of the tribal districts.

They said the government had announced that no taxes would be collected from the residents of the merged districts as they had suffered huge losses during militancy and subsequent military operations.

We are yet to benefit from the merger, but the government has started collecting toll tax from us, which is sheer injustice, a protester complained. The protesters said the government had announced that tribal districts would be exempted from taxes for five years.