Sectarian strife: Kurram Agency peace deal on shaky ground

Sectarian strife: Kurram Agency peace deal on shaky ground

By Zia Khan

Published: April 16, 2011

Malik says tribesmen responsible for securing roads. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 

A fragile peace deal between the Sunnis and Shias from Kurram Agency is under threat barely two months after an agreement between the warring tribes helped reopen the Tal-Parachinar road after more than four years.

Lawmakers from tribal areas, most of whom brokered the deal, in the National Assembly on Friday urged the government to secure the road.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that under the agreement, it was the tribesmen who were responsible for securing the road and not the government.

Speaking in the House, tribal MPs recalled the attack in the Bagan area of lower Kurram Agency some fortnight ago where 10 Shia tribesmen were killed and 40 were allegedly kidnapped by the Taliban groups based in Orakzai.

Kurram is the only tribal district with a Shia majority and has been caught in the grip of sectarian violence for the past four years.

Tal-Parachinar is the only road that links Kurram with the outside world and its closure over the past few years has reportedly made life for locals miserable.

Earlier this year, in February, the road was reopened after the tribal elders, along with parliamentarians, brokered a peace deal hoping to put an end to the age-old dispute.

However, the improvised explosive device (IED) allegedly planted by the Taliban on the roadside that killed 10 Shia tribesmen and led to the kidnapping of 40 others, put an end to any peace deal that may have been in the works.

Malik claimed the government would do whatever was possible to secure the deal and added that aerial surveillance of the route was also an option.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th,  2011.

 

SOURCE: 

http://tribune.com.pk/story/150369/sectarian-strife-kurram-agency-peace-deal-on-shaky-ground/

Measures to be taken for safe travelling on Thall-Parachinar Road: Malik assures National Assembly  RECORDER REPORT ISLAMABAD  (April 16, 2011) : Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday assured National Assembly that all efforts would be taken to ensure safe travelling on Thall-Parachinar Road, as lawmakers expressed concerns over the repeated terror incidents as well as killing and kidnapping of tribesmen by the militants. The minister was responding to a call attention notice moved by MNAs Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Sajid Hussain Turi, Zafar Beg Bhittani and others pertaining to rising attacks on passengers' vehicles in Parachinar, Kurram Agency by terrorists and killing of innocent people. Malik said that the issue of Parachinar was very serious and the government was well aware of the problems being faced by the locals. He said that after the unprecedented efforts by parliamentarians and elders of the various tribes, a truce was brokered as per the aspirations of local communities, which was unfortunately sabotaged by the Taliban. He said that under the agreement the main Thall-Parachinar road was re-opened for the passengers' vehicles after about three years despite the fact the security forces opposed it due to fear of terror attacks. The Interior Minister, however, assured the House that all measures would be taken including the security forces' escort to the passengers to avoid terror incidents. To a question, he said that the government had asked Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to make arrangements to expend the local airport in Parachinar for the landing of big planes so that an alternate travel facility could be provided to the local people. Referring to the March 26 incident of killing and kidnapping of tribesmen by the terrorists, Malik said that he had asked the FC high ups in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to investigate the matter, besides urging them to provide adequate security to the passengers travelling on the Thall-Parachinar road. To another question, he said that Taliban were behind the attack on the passengers, who were targeting people of a particular tribe. Speaking on the call attention notice, Farah Asfahani of the PPP was of the opinion that the incidents taken place in Parachinar were different to that being happened in rest of the country. She said that the local community was trapped in the area for the last three to four years and they were compelled to travel to Afghanistan for purchase daily use items. She further said that the government should come up with concrete long-term measures to stop the day to day terror incidents. Earlier, Qadri expressed grave concern over the repeated terror incidents on the road and asked the government to undertake necessary measures to provide security to the passengers' vehicles to halt the attacks. Zafar Beg Bhittani was of the view that it was the responsibility of the government to provide security to the people of the country, adding that closing the road due to fear of terror incidents was not the way out to the issue rather steps should be taken to implement the government's writ.

 

SOURCE: 

http://www.brecorder.com/component/news/single/599:news.html?id=1178590

FATA forced to pull out of football event

Published: April 15, 2011

Players unable to reach the venue in Peshawar due to law-and-order situation.

KARACHI: 

The deteriorating law-and-order situation in Peshawar has affected the fourth National Women's Club Championship that started yesterday as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) Football Club was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to their players being unable to travel to the venue.

Fata failed to show up on the opening day of the championship, handing Peshawar Football Club a walkover with three points and three goals in their group D match.

According to the Fata Women's Football Federation President Faisal Jamil Shah, the team pulled out of the championship because six of their players, who belong to Kurram Agency, could not get the clearance to travel to Peshawar due to the ongoing tussle between the Taliban and Shia groups in the region.

"It's a cruel and disappointing that our players couldn't make it to the venue," Shah told The Express Tribune. "Our team was incomplete and we couldn't wait for them.

"The female footballers in Fata usually come from Kurram and South Waziristan Agency. The girls from these areas are strong and spirited but this has left them with no other option but to pull out of the biggest national tournament for female footballers in the country."

Meanwhile, Frontier College started their campaign in style as they defeated Striker FC 7-1.

Ayesha Mohammad struck a hat-trick to ensure the win, scoring in the 17th, 24th and 34th minutes of the match. Sidra Rauf added a brace as Striker FC could only reply with Mehrunnisa's goal in the 41st minute.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th,  2011.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/150070/fata-forced-to-pull-out-of-football-event/