BARA: The Sipah tribe in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Thursday formed an 80-member peace body to support the government and security forces against the militants.
A jirga to this effect was held in Hayatabad, with Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leader Shah Faisal Afridi in the chair. Politicians and tribal elders, including Malik Muhammad Ali, Haji Nawab, Haji Naseeb, Haji Said Marjan, were also present on the occasion.
The participants made it clear that their soil in Bara tehsil would not be allowed to be used by militants.The elders said the peace body would stop the proscribed militant organisations and outfits to hoist their flags in their area.
Regarding the surrender of the wanted people, they said the Sipah tribe had already handed over people involved in militancy to the security forces and political administration and would do so in future as well.
“Those wanted from the Sipah tribe will be handed over to the government till December 30,” Shah Faisal Afridi added. Other speakers asked the government to announce repatriation of the displaced Sipah tribespersons to their native areas. “On the suggestion of a few people from Sipah tribe, the government has imposed fine of Rs120 million on the whole tribe,” Shah Faisal said. He added that instead of collecting fine from the entire tribe, the government should collect the fine from those who had put forward the suggestion.
