Sipah tribe IDPs to return home soon

MNA says uplift schemes to be launched in Khyber Agency

BARA: Member National Assembly from Khyber Agency Nasir Khan Afridi has said the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Sipah tribe would return to their villages soon.

He was talking to reporters after holding a meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan at the Governor’s House. The lawmaker said that all the IDPs from Khyber Agency had already gone back to their native areas except the Sipah tribe.

“We are personally taking interest in the repatriation of the Sipah tribe as it was displaced from Bara tehsil when the security forces launched Operation Khyber-1 in 2014,” he said.

Nasir Afridi added that peace and tranquillity had been restored by the security forces and the peace committees and the militants have left their hideouts, particularly in Khyber Agency.

The parliamentarian pointed out that the Governor had taken interest in development schemes and restoration of the damaged infrastructure in Bara subdivision. He said the governor would visit Khyber Agency soon to inaugurate the reopening of Bara Bazaar, which had been closed down by the security forces due to the rise of militancy in 2009.

He said the Governor’s first priority after eliminating militancy from Fata was to develop education and health sectors and repatriate the tribal families to their native areas.

“Owing to the militancy, the development projects have been stopped, particularly in Tirah and Bara areas for the last seven years,” he said, adding that the governor had already announced funds for development projects and rehabilitation of displaced tribespeople.

To a question, he said the government had carried out development schemes in Bara Bazaar, including a bus stand, slaughterhouse, parking, Rescue office, municipal committee and Bab-e-Bara (Bara Gate) along with a façade.

He said Bara used to be a hub of the transit trade and business in Pakistan before the emergence of militants in the region.

The MNA added that the government was interested in reconstructing Bara Bazaar and has allotted a huge amount for making a new model city in Fata.