Bara operation loses intensity as most militants still at large

PESHAWAR: The operation in Bara subdivision of Khyber Agency has lost its intensity with almost all militants and their leadership still at large though the unsettling curfew is in place to the dismay of many dwellers.

The anti-militant swoop was launched with trumpet blast on September 1 by razing houses of those accused of lending military, financial or moral support to militants in the area being controlled by Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), the outlawed group led by Mangal Bagh, over the past several years.

Unofficial figures suggest that nearly 50 houses have been razed, 35 people killed and over 100 arrested by the security forces in the past month. The authorities, however, failed to net or eliminate any of the wanted militants or senior commanders including chief Mangal Bagh who has been recently added to the list of wanted men carrying bounty on their heads.

Official figures released to media over the past one month, however, claimed the killing of nearly 100 militants besides destruction of their several centres and bunkers both in Bara and the remote Tirah Valley where most of the banned LI leaders are believed to be hiding to evade arrest.

Large-scale migration of people, fearing intense fighting between security forces and outlawed LI volunteers and the continued curfew in Bara, are the most disturbing aspects of the Operation ‘Bia Daraghlam’ (Here I Come Again), which is the second against LI since June 2008.

The first operation codenamed ‘Daraghlam’ (Here I Come) was launched in June last year with a promise to root out the militants and secure Bara as well as Peshawar. The action was, however, halted after a few days by pushing the militants, who returned with more force and vigour days after troop withdrawal from the area.

The current operation, launched with much fanfare by the army and Frontier Corps (FC), is going to meet fate of the previous one as army troops were withdrawn from Bara less than 10 days after the launch of the operation wherein the security forces focused more on demolition of houses instead of going after and chasing the militants in their mountainous hideouts outside Bara.

Although the LI is yet to offer any armed resistance, the previous threats from Mangal Bagh on his illegal FM channel terrified the residents to the extent that they started fleeing the area for safer locations in the suburban villages and houses with some even going to the Jalozai makeshift settlement established to house displaced from Bajaur and Swat.

According to locals and some relief organisations, 50,000 to 80,000 people have migrated from Bara after the threat from Mangal Bagh who asked the people to reach to safer locations within three days after Eid.

Locals said they were the ultimate victims both in fighting between LI and Ansarul Islam (AI) and the anti-militant operation by the security forces. “Our businesses have been destroyed due to the curfew for the past one month,” says Said Ayaz, president of the Traders’ Association in Bara bazaar.

First there was fighting between the two groups (LI and AI) and the civilians suffered. “We are again facing the brunt as the security forces are conducting operation in our area,” grumbled the retailer, claiming that majority of those killed in the month-long operation were civilians.

Ayaz said more than 10,000 shops had been closed over the past one month, incurring huge losses on the traders and businessmen. Earlier, some shop owners shifted the merchandise to their houses following relaxation in curfew hours during Eid, he added.

Another resident, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said the LI people had returned to some areas after the pulling out of army from Bara. “We are sandwiched between the government and the militants each time the two sides come face to face,” he lamented.

Talking to reporters, the former political agent of Khyber Agency Tariq Hayat had claimed the operation would be taken to its logical end. He was, however, removed from the office without seeing his pledge fulfilled. Incumbent Political Agent Shafeerullah Khan was contacted both on his office and cell phone numbers, but he was not available for comments.