Land dispute: Rival tribes block Bannu-Miranshah Road in North Waziristan

MIRANSHAH: People hailing from different tribes in Mir Ali tehsil of North Waziristan blocked the Bannu-Miranshah road at several points as protest over land disputes continued for the second day in the tribal district on Saturday.

The people of Khadi, Eidak, Norak and Azizkhel tribes of Mir Ali tehsil erected barricades on the Bannu-Miranshah road at several points and blocked it for vehicular traffic in protest against the ongoing disputes on ownership of land in the area. The protestors placed big stones and trolleys at several points on Bannu-Miranshah road to suspend vehicular traffic. They also laid an iron chain on the main electricity transmission line and disconnected the power supply to the entire North Waziristan. The police and district administration, who were making strenuous efforts to calm down the protestors, had not yet made any breakthrough due to the stiff stance of the rival tribes. Local sources said that if the district administration did not take appropriate steps, there was a possibility of bloodshed and fierce clashes among the rival tribes in the tribal district.

Land in the seven erstwhile Fata districts along the Pak-Afghan border is often owned collectively and lacks official records. This often leads to conflicting claims among Pashtun tribes and clans, as well as disputes between residents and the government over its expanding presence in the more than 27,000-square-kilometer territory that is now part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.