- Jirga between KP govt and Bannu Peace Committee held CM’s House in Peshawar
BANNU: The elders from Bannu on Tuesday presented a list of 16 demands to KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and expressed their concerns over the operation Azm-e-Istehkham.
The demands were presented during a Jirga between the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial government and the Bannu Peace Committee, the council of elders belonging to Bannu district, held at the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar on Tuesday.
Spokesperson for KP Government Barrister Dr Saif confirmed that the Jirga was held at the CM’s House, saying that the Jirga had decided to convene the Apex Committee meeting on Thursday.
“It has been agreed that the Apex Committee meeting will take place on Thursday (tomorrow), with five advisors from the Bannu Peace Committee”, Barrister Saif stated, a comprehensive policy to restore law and order in the province would be formulated in the upcoming provincial Apex Committee meeting.
The KP spokesperson said CM Ali Amin Gandapur discussed the situation in Bannu with the Bannu Peace Committee members and expressed gratitude for their cooperation with the administration to restore peace after the Bannu incident.
Dr Saif added that the members of the Bannu Peace Committee have expressed their trust in Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who will visit Bannu on Friday at their invitation.
Regarding Jirga, the advisor said it has been decided that the Bannu Peace Committee will continue the symbolic sit-in in Bannu.
Additionally, it was agreed to restore the authority of the police and activate the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Bannu while CM Ali Amin Gandapur’s visit to Bannu on Friday is confirmed.
On the other hand, a preliminary report prepared by the KP government’s Home and Tribal Affairs Department blamed “miscreants” for the melee at the peace rally that led to at least one death and over two dozen injuries in Bannu on July 19.
The initial report on the Bannu incident said that on July 19, “some miscreants” disguised as protesters threw stones as well as resorted to firing at the site of the security forces’ supply depot destroyed in the July 15 terrorist attack.
The report recalled two incidents that rocked Bannu last week, i.e., a terrorist attack on the cantonment that claimed the lives of eight security personnel and three civilians, as well as the chaos at the peace rally.
It has been stated in the report that at 4:40 am on July 15, some terrorists attacked the supply depot’s gate in the limits of Bannu cantonment, in which eight security personnel and three citizens embraced martyrdom.
“The jawans of the Pakistan Army gave a befitting reply and shot dead all terrorists, who had received monetary assistance from abroad.”
The report has stated that on July 19, different political parties and traders’ associations took out a peace rally.
There were some troublemakers in the rally, who hurled stones at the site of the supply depot, besides setting the tents erected around it alight. “They also fired at the site using small weapons,” reads the report.
