Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday dismissed reports of a military operation in Tirah Valley, saying that no such operation has taken place in the area for several years and that recent displacement is a routine, seasonal process linked to harsh winter conditions.
“There has been no operation in Tirah Valley for many years. These are all assumptions,” said Asif while addressing a press conference in Islamabad flanked by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Affairs Ikhtiar Wali Khan.
He said migration from Tirah and other valleys along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was a routine, annual process during the winter season. “During snowfall, people migrate from valleys located along the Pak-Afghan border. Migration from the Tirah Valley also takes place every year,” he said.
The defence minister said efforts were being made to present the situation as a crisis. “This migration is being turned into a crisis, even though it is a normal, seasonal movement,” he added.
Asif said the provincial government had allocated funds to support displaced families. “[The] Khyber Pakhtunkhwa govt has set aside Rs4 billion for those who are migrating,” he said.
He went on to say that a notification regarding the relocation was issued after consultations between the provincial government and a local jirga.
“The notification was issued after consultation between the provincial government and the jirga,” Asif said, adding that it was agreed to establish schools and police stations in the area.
The defence czar said that members of the jirga had met representatives of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “Jirga members went to meet the proscribed TTP members on December 11… after that, they met the chief minister of KP,” he said.
“Around 400 to 500 TTP members, along with their families, are present in Tirah. However, intelligence-based operations against terrorism continue,” he said.
He stressed that the area was not being evacuated for any operation. “The armed forces deployed in that area have nothing to do with it,” he added.
The defence czar also claimed that illegal activities were a major source of tension in the region. “Cannabis is cultivated on around 12,000 acres in the Tirah Valley. The income is about Rs3.5 million per acre, and this is the real dispute,” he said.
Asif said the government was willing to take journalists to the Tirah Valley to show the situation on the ground. “We [govt] can take journalists to Tirah to show them the real situation,” he added.
