PTM activists, troops clash in NWA

MIRAMSHAH: Three persons lost their lives and 10 others were injured in a clash between security forces and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) activists in North Waziristan on Sunday.

In a statement, the Inter- Services Public Relations (ISPR) said a group led by MNAs Mohsin Javed and Ali Wazir assaulted the Kharkamar check-post in North Waziristan.

The ISPR said due to firing by the group, five soldiers were injured.

"They wanted to exert pressure for the release of suspected terrorists’ facilitator, who was arrested the other day. Troops at the check-post exercised maximum restraint in the face of provocation and direct firing on the post," said the ISPR.

The three individuals killed in the clash were involved in the attack. MNA Ali Wazir along with eight others was arrested while Mohsin Javed was at large.

The clash between the security forces and PTM workers erupted at a place where the members of the rights movement had been staging a sit-in for the last many days.

Mohsin Javed, commonly known as Mohsin Dawar, is an MNA from North Waziristan, while Ali Wazir is an MNA fromthe adjoining South Waziristan.

They were reportedly accompanied by Dr Gul Alam, who is a PTM leader belonging to Madakhel Wazir in whose area the clash took place.

The Madakhel tribe lives on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border and many of its members had migrated to Afghanistan after the Zarb-e-Azb military operations that was launched against militants in June 2014.

There were, however, conflicting reports about the incident that prompted the local administration to put the tribal district under curfew.

Tribal sources said dozens of tribesmen and activists of the PTM, led by their Members of the National Assembly, Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir, from South Waziristan and North Waziristan, respectively, were on their way to Boya to participate in a sit-in.

Barricades were erected there to stopped the protesting tribesmen. The tribesmen and PTM activists tried to make their way and some of them physically clashed, a tribal elder in Miramshah told The News.

Pleading anonymity, he said a "number of people" were killed and injured in the firing.

Agencies add: According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), a group led by Mohsin Javed and Ali Wazir MNAs assaulted the Kharkamar check- post in Boya area of North Waziristan on Sunday morning injuring five soldiers of Pakistan Army. The aim of attack was to exert pressure for release of suspected a terrorists’ facilitator arrested the other day. “Troops at the check-post exercised maximum restraint in the face of provocation and direct firing on the post,” the ISPR said.

“Due to firing of the group, five army soldiers got injured.

In the exchange of fire, the individuals who attacked the post lost their lives and 10 got injured.

All the injured were evacuated to the military hospital for treatment, the ISPR added.

The ISPR also said that Ali Wazir along with eight individuals was arrested, while Mohsin Javed was at large after inciting the crowd.