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Pakistan extends curfew in border region after clashes
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Authorities in Pakistan’s
restive tribal region expanded a 24-hour curfew along the Afghan border to
avert further clashes between tribesmen and militants after at least three
people were killed and dozens injured in recent days, officials said
Wednesday.
The move comes as tensions mount in the area with burgeoning civil rights
group the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) heightening calls for the removal
of alleged Taliban-linked militants from the region.
The US and others have long accused Pakistan of using proxies in
Afghanistan, including the Taliban and other militant groups. Islamabad
denies the claims.
PTM has had repeated clashes with the militants this week during two
rallies in the area, leading authorities Tuesday to expand an earlier curfew
to encompass all of the South Waziristan tribal district.
“Curfew has been tightened and extended to the entire South Waziristan.
More than 80 people have so far been arrested,” a senior government official
in Peshawar told AFP, adding that at least three people have been killed and
40 injured.
The area is sealed off to journalists, making claims difficult to verify.
A clash between PTM activists and insurgents Sunday killed two people,
sparking fears of wider unrest in an area flush with weapons and long-held
traditions that demand violent reprisals against perceived slights against an
individual or tribe’s honour.
The violence was followed by a second clash during a rally on Monday,
according to PTM.
Authorities were negotiating with local tribal elders to restore calm and
had relaxed the curfew for two hours on Tuesday to allow people to buy food
to break their fasts during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
A government official in South Waziristan’s Wana confirmed details of the
curfew, telling AFP that landlines had been disconnected in the area and
roads blocked.
A local tribal elder added that mosques had been shuttered to prevent
people from rallying crowds with the facilities’ loudspeakers.
PTM has been calling for investigations into disappearances and
extrajudicial killings by Pakistan’s security establishment, while also
echoing accusations that the military allowed extremists a safe haven from
which to launch attacks in Afghanistan.
During a press conference earlier this week, chief military spokesman
Major General Asif Ghafoor slammed accusations that the country was
harbouring militants, accusing the PTM of being manipulated by “enemies of
Pakistan”.
BSS/AFP/RY/1740 hrs