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DAGGAR: A joint search operation being carried out for the past three days by the security forces and the police in parts of Buner district has caused concern among the people though it has also reassured them as action is finally being taken against the militants holding out in the area.
Sources said the security forces launched search operation against the militants in Karakar, Jowar, Gokand and Pir Baba areas and arrested several suspects and seized arms and explosives.
The sources said that curfew remained clamped in Pir Baba area for the last three days. Some of the residents said that they were facing problems due to the curfew as they were unable to go to work, bring food and other items for their survival.
The search operation was undertaken in the wake of targetted killing of a number of anti-militants political activists. The most recent case was that of the local ANP office-bearer and marble factory owner Afzal Khan, who was killed about two weeks ago in the Totalai hills in Buner after being kidnapped.
Another ANP activist Anwar Khan was killed late last year. Besides, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) leader and Amn Lashkar head Syed Ahmad Khan alias Fateh Khan, senior lawyer and QWP leader Adalat Khan, Amin Khan, Jamil Khan and others too were target killed. Members of the pro-government peace committees, political workers, activists of non-government organisations and those who challenged the militants are being targeted.
A resident of Pir Baba on condition of anonymity told The News that he had been receiving threatening calls and demand for supplying weapons to the militants. “I am going to leave Buner and settle abroad as I and my family are not feeling secure,” he said, adding that several families of Gadezai and Jowar tehsils and Gokand area were deeply concerned about the presence of about 15 to 20 Taliban fighters in their area. Some are seeking out houses on rent in Islamabad, Peshawar Abbottabad and other cities to move out of Buner.
Another resident of Pir Baba said about 15 suspects were earlier present in the area and they visited the Pir Baba bazaar at night. “Despite the presence of the police, the suspected persons, believed to be militants, were in the recent past found wandering in Pir Baba bazaar. The suspected militants are once again trying to reorganize their men after the military operations in 2009,” he added. A police official, pleading anonymity, said “I was sitting in a police vehicle near Johela village in Pir Baba area when suspected militants came and asked me to go home as they were enough to secure the area,” he said.
Sources said the security forces launched search operation against the militants in Karakar, Jowar, Gokand and Pir Baba areas and arrested several suspects and seized arms and explosives.
The sources said that curfew remained clamped in Pir Baba area for the last three days. Some of the residents said that they were facing problems due to the curfew as they were unable to go to work, bring food and other items for their survival.
The search operation was undertaken in the wake of targetted killing of a number of anti-militants political activists. The most recent case was that of the local ANP office-bearer and marble factory owner Afzal Khan, who was killed about two weeks ago in the Totalai hills in Buner after being kidnapped.
Another ANP activist Anwar Khan was killed late last year. Besides, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) leader and Amn Lashkar head Syed Ahmad Khan alias Fateh Khan, senior lawyer and QWP leader Adalat Khan, Amin Khan, Jamil Khan and others too were target killed. Members of the pro-government peace committees, political workers, activists of non-government organisations and those who challenged the militants are being targeted.
A resident of Pir Baba on condition of anonymity told The News that he had been receiving threatening calls and demand for supplying weapons to the militants. “I am going to leave Buner and settle abroad as I and my family are not feeling secure,” he said, adding that several families of Gadezai and Jowar tehsils and Gokand area were deeply concerned about the presence of about 15 to 20 Taliban fighters in their area. Some are seeking out houses on rent in Islamabad, Peshawar Abbottabad and other cities to move out of Buner.
Another resident of Pir Baba said about 15 suspects were earlier present in the area and they visited the Pir Baba bazaar at night. “Despite the presence of the police, the suspected persons, believed to be militants, were in the recent past found wandering in Pir Baba bazaar. The suspected militants are once again trying to reorganize their men after the military operations in 2009,” he added. A police official, pleading anonymity, said “I was sitting in a police vehicle near Johela village in Pir Baba area when suspected militants came and asked me to go home as they were enough to secure the area,” he said.
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