“Khawaja Asif, Attaullah Tarar and Ikhtiar Wali Khan address press conference”. PHOTO: SCREEN CAPTURE
ISLAMABAD/PAKISTAN:
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said the ongoing displacement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tiral Valley was part of a “routine” seasonal migration, adding that there was no possibility of a military operation in the area amid a raging dispute over the situation between the federal and provincial governments.
Following increased unrest and escalating security concerns, large-scale displacement is occurring in the Tirah Valley, with thousands of families leaving their homes for safer areas, including Bara and Peshawar.
The situation has seen the federal and provincial governments at odds with the former dismissing the notion of planned or forced displacement, while the latter has rejected as “misleading and factually incorrect” the federal government’s claim that the displacement of Tirah Valley residents from Khyber district is voluntary in nature.
At a press conference on the matter in Islamabad, flanked by Information Minister Attaullah Tarrar and Prime Minister’s Information Coordinator for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Affairs Ikhtiar Wali Khan, Asif dismissed reports of forced displacement in the Tirah Valley as a “misrepresentation” of what he said was “routine” seasonal migration.
“This [issue] What has been characterized as a crisis is actually not a crisis. “This is routine.”
Speaking about the controversy, he said residents of six or seven valleys in the area migrated for four or six months when the snowfall began, moving to areas with less severe cold and leaving one or two people behind for safety reasons.
“This is not a crisis but a routine practice that has been carried out for years and can be verified.”
Asif said that a jirga was held on December 11 with the presence of banned terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which included 24 to 36 points related to migration. He said the TTP negotiated with the provincial government a Rs 4 billion migration package which was later approved.
The minister stressed that the army, which was present in the area for defense purposes, had no relationship with this agreement, clarifying that the package was strictly between the jirga and the provincial government.
He further explained that it was strategically decided years ago that intelligence-based operations (IBO) would be more effective than large-scale operations in the area to minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties.
“The military has abandoned operations in favor of IBOs for a long time… It is not an operation there [in Tirah Valley]. Migration there is routine,” Asif reiterated.
Criticizing the performance of the provincial government in the area, the Minister of Defense pointed out the complete absence of hospitals, schools, police stations and civil security forces in the region despite promises.
He said the federal government had initiated a process to reverse this by building schools and hospitals so that citizens could benefit from the profits, while suggesting that the provincial government’s interests are connected with the TTP in jointly exploiting this resource.
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More to follow
