Bajaur jirga asks TTP to return to Afghanistan, or move to mountains

ISLAMABAD: A tribal jirga met members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Bajaur on Friday and asked them to leave the area, head of the jirga Sahibzada Haroon ur Rashid said.

Rashid, who is a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, wrote on his Facebook that the Taliban members sought time until 12 noon on Saturday for consultations with their leaders.

“Now there will be a meeting with the civil and military leadership again while on August 02, God willing, there will be discussions with the Taliban again,” he said on his return from a meeting with the TTP fighters.

Besides tribal elders, religious scholars and local leaders of political parties were part of the jirga.

In a video posted online, Haroon Rasheed said that people have suffered a lot due to the fighting between the security forces and the Taliban.

The jirga was formed after security forces conducted an operation in parts of Bajaur against the TTP members, which caused casualties among the civilians, according to locals.

Several people have left areas where the operation was carried out to target the militants.

There has been no statement about the operation, however, social media accounts believed to be run by security institutions, named the operation as “Sarbakaf”.

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“The problem could be solved in accordance with the constitution and with the implementation of Shariat,” the jirga leader said.

TTP has not issued any statement about the development.

However, a former TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan termed as unjustified the jirga demands that the TTP should either return to Afghanistan or move to mountains.

Ehsan has no relations with the TTP.

Bajaur, bordering Afghanistan, has seen a series of violent incidents in recent months.

ANP’s senior leader Maulana Khanzeb was killed in a firing incident in Bajaur on July 10.

On July 2, an assistant commissioner and four other people were killed in a bomb blast in the area.

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Besides the TTP, the Islamic State Khorasan Province also routinely claims responsibility for target attacks in Bajaur.

ISKP claimed responsibility for a deadliest attack on JUI-F gathering in Bajaur in 2023 which claimed the lives of over 50 people.