BAJAUR – Pakistan’s northwestern region Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed dramatic scenes as peace talks with militants collapsed, and now a full-scale security crackdown in Bajaur and Khyber districts is underway.
In Bajaur’s Mamond tehsil, tribal elders’ last-ditch plea for militants to leave fell on deaf ears as around three hundred heavily armed fighters are dug into just two pockets of tehsil, forcing more than 40,000 terrified residents to flee from an area that houses over 3-3.5Lac people.
Khyber district faces an even larger militant presence, over 350 hardcore militants, with officials claiming most are Afghan nationals.
Malakand Commissioner Abid Wazir announced that over hundred government buildings in Khar will be converted into safe shelters, alongside a vast tent village at the sports complex to house the displaced.
In a dramatic show of control, authorities slapped curfew from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm on all key roads into Khar. Mamond tehsil is under an even harsher measure, a 72-hour blanket curfew across 27 localities from August 11 to August 14, with residents ordered off the streets and warned that any unrest will be met with full force.
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