Akakhel tribe wants return to native areas

BARA: The tribal people belonging to the Akakhel tribe staged a protest at the Bara Press Club on Monday to demand a return to upper Bara where their property had been allegedly occupied by other tribes.

The protest was led by Malik Attaullah Afridi and other elders. The protesters chanted slogans against the district administration. "Our property and mountains have been occupied by several tribes due to non-presence of the Akakhel tribe in upper Bara," Malik Attaullah Afridi said, adding the government should send back the displaced persons to their native areas forthwith.

He claimed the Orakzai tribe had crossed the boundary and occupied their forefather's property and felled the trees on the mountains. "We had already lodged complaints with the security forces and district administration against the land mafia but no action was taken," he said.

Later the tribesmen reached the Peshawar Press Club and staged a protest. Mohammad Shafiq Afridi, a former candidate from NA-44, told the media persons that the real owners belonged to Khyber district but the land was occupied illegally when they had vacated native areas during the military operation against militants.