20 Mujahideen freed, Army convoy let go

Situation in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region has witnessed a gradual improvement following an agreement on Monday that led to the release of 20 Pakistani Taliban by the government and in return the militants allowed an Army convoy, stranded in Miramshah for the last 45 days, to proceed. Relations between the government and Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Pakistani Taliban had turned sour 45 days ago after an attack on a security forces convoy by suspected militants near the Hamzoni village, 25 kilometres west of Miramshah. Eight soldiers were killed and several others injured in the attack on the convoy. The government later imposed a curfew on the Miramshah-Dattakhel Road and launched a crackdown against the Hamzoni tribe under the collective responsibility clause of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). It arrested 50 people, including Pakistani Taliban militants and some tribesmen. The incident generated rumours that the government was planning to launch a major military operation against the Taliban in North Waziristan. However, a Jirga comprising tribal elders and clerics made sustained efforts to bring the two sides to the negotiating table. It finally succeeded in persuading them to show flexibility in their hard stances. The government, as a sign of goodwill gesture, first released 20 detainees out of the total 54, and agreed to remove some of the checkpoints to which the Pakistani Taliban and tribesmen had objected.

The Pakistani Taliban returned some vehicles and arms and ammunition that they had seized after the attack on the military convoy in Hamzoni village. Sources privy to the Jirga said North Waziristan Pakistani Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur had promised that his men would not resort to confrontation with the government and would be responsible for protection of security forces if he was informed prior to movement of convoys in his area. The sources said it was his pledge of remaining peaceful that enabled a huge military convoy to successfully travel from Miramshah to Gharlamay Fort near the border with Afghanistan. Security officials said the military convoy, which was stranded for 45 days in Miramshah, had safely reached its destination. However, to provide better security to the military convoy, the authorities had imposed a curfew in the area from Miramshah to Ghulam Khan, Dattakhel, Shawal, Lowara Mandi, Darpakhel, etc. The curfew had confined 250,000 people to their homes and brought life to a standstill. All public and private educational institutions, government offices, banks and hospitals remained closed in Miramshah during the curfew. By Mushtaq Yusufzai