On January 9th the process of evacuating local residents from their homes began in the tribal area of the Tirah Valley. Now, with only one week remaining until the completion of this process, the Pakistan Army has warned local residents to vacate Tirah within one week in preparation for military operations.
Local residents say they have been forced to leave their homes and according to them, through this action the Pakistan Army is making it clear; that its policies are based on the oppression of Pashtuns.
A resident of Tirah says “The situation is very bad. Children, women, and the elderly are suffering greatly; they are hungry and crying.”
Videos released on social media from Tirah show that some local residents have symbolically taped their mouths shut in protest against being forced to leave their homes and to condemn the Pakistan Army’s decision to conduct operations in the area.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa visited Tirah at a time when local residents of the valley were packing up their belongings out of fear of the army. Instead of preventing the military operations, he assured the people, that he opposes about the operations planned there and will continue to oppose.
The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sohail Afridi, says “I was not a supporter of the military operations yesterday, I am not a supporter of them today, and I will not support them tomorrow. These operations are being carried out through strong-arm tactics at gunpoint, and the decisions behind them were made behind closed doors.”
Some analysts, considering the manner in which past operations were conducted in the tribal areas, describe the Pakistan Army’s latest operation in Tirah as a plot to achieve its objectives in the tribal regions, in addition to tightening its control over the area’s existing mines and mineral resources.
Political analyst Akhtar Mohammad Rasekh says “The Pakistan Army is looking for a pretext to evacuate this area, displace Pashtuns, and launch a war in the name of terrorism. The real story is that Pashtuns are being forced to leave this region and Punjabis are being brought in; military bases are being established, and the existing mineral resources are being seized.”
Political analyst Shahsawar Sangarwal says “I think if this situation continues, uprisings against the Pakistan Army may begin across the whole Pashtunkhwa.”
The Pakistan Army has previously carried out extensive military operations in the tribal areas which, according to nationalist parties, targeted Pashtun nationalist activists, ordinary civilians, and their economic foundations.
Among these operations, the Zarb-e-Ghazab military operation conducted in North Waziristan is considered particularly deadly. It lasted for one year and came to an end in 2015.
