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Govt suspends Bara operation

* Official says temporary halt to facilitate jirga talks with LI chief
* Operation to resume if Mangal does not accept govt’s demands

By Iqbal Khattak and Qazi Rauf

PESHAWAR/BARA: The government on Friday suspended its security operation against suspected militants and criminals in the Khyber Agency for 36 hours to allow Afridi tribesmen to meet Mangal Bagh and conduct peace talks.

“The operation has been suspended until Saturday morning on the request of the tribal jirga and we have relaxed the curfew in Bara to facilitate locals,” Khyber Agency Chief Administrator Tariq Hayat Khan told Daily Times. He said that Afridi elders had approached him on Thursday and offered to conduct negotiations with Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh to help restore peace in the area.

Khan said the government had provided the jirga members with a list of demands for Bagh, adding that these included surrender of all weapons along with a guarantee that Bagh would not challenge the state’s writ.

“The jirga was not sent by the government. The Afridi tribesmen initiated it on their own as they were worried that the security operation could continue indefinitely until all the set goals had been achieved,” he added.

The 18-member Afridi jirga left for Tirah Valley on Thursday to conduct negotiations with Mangal Bagh, tribal sources said. It returned on Friday evening, chief tribal negotiator Haji Amal Gul told Daily Times. “There has been progress (in talks) but we cannot share with media,” he added. He said the jirga would brief Khan on the talks with Bagh on Saturday (today).

Operation to resume: “If our goals can be achieved through peaceful means, we will certainly pursue them. But, rest assured, we will continue the operation as long as our demands are not met,” Khan said, prior to the jirga’s return.

He said security forces had destroyed 16 militant compounds during the past six days of the operation, adding that they had also identified 14 other such compounds. He said the remaining centres would also be destroyed if the jirga failed to convince Bagh to surrender to the government.

Due to relaxation in the operation, Bara Bazaar was open on Friday, and several cars were observed on the roads for the first time since the operation was launched on June 28. Authorities also relaxed the curfew from 8am to 5pm. Local residents used this time to purchase essential commodities, said local trader Daud Khan Afridi.

The government ordered the military operation in Khyber Agency following challenges to Peshawar security from Mangal Bagh’s organisation and other criminals.

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