As preparations are being made for a military action against militants in the central region of Kurram Agency, the administration has opened a camp for the displaced families while the security forces high ups are engaged in deployment of troops.
The local elders and officials in Parachinar, the agency headquarter, told Pakistan Today that the government was ready to launch an offensive in Masozai, Alisherzai and Zeemusht areas of Central Kurram, one of the three tehsils in the agency. It is also said that the expected operation is causing unrest amongst the local tribesmen.
It would be the first operation against militants in the volatile agency, bordering Afghanistan’s southeastern provinces including Khost, Logar and Nangarhar.
It is important to recall that the Kurram Agency was the main escaping route for hundreds of al Qaeda and its like-minded terrorist outfits’ members.
More than 400 al Qaeda militants, with Arabs in majority, were captured from the tribal agency in November 2001, as they fled Afghanistan while the chief of banned Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM), Sufi Mohammad, were also among the arrested people.
Soon after the 9/11 tragedy, Sufi Muhammad had lead more than 10,000 militants to Afghanistan to boost Afghan Taliban against the United States.
However, after disintegration of al Qaeda, Taliban and other militant groups in Afghanistan, situation remained normal in Kurram Agency for some years despite sectarian unrest. But during and after 2008 general elections, violence and terrorist acts crippled life across the agency. Given the distinct demographic composition with respect to other tribal districts, the terrorists are solely targeting the Shia population.
Thousands of families from both Shia and Sunni communities have already abandoned homes and shifted to safer places in the country.
Recently, a large number of foreign and local militants slipped into Central Kurram from North Waziristan after the US-led allies started to press Islamabad to take a comprehensive military action. The local tribal elders and officials say the proposed operation is focused on these strangers.
Although military action has not been launched yet, gunship helicopters bombed some hideouts on Friday last (June 24), killing around nine suspect militants. Officials say 400 families have so far been registered after process was started on Monday to count the IDPs (internally displaced persons). Thirty of these families have been adjusted in a camp established at Daranai on Teendo Road near the Sadda town in Lower Kurram. They further say that the remaining families are staying with their relatives or in schools.
On the other hand, the security forces contingents are being deployed in Central Kurram while all roads have been sealed for private and commercial traffic with check posts established at various spots.
