Five-hundreds Tribal police left jobs after LI chief 's threat

KHYBERAGENCY:Political Agent of khyber Agency captain (R) Tariq Hayat Khan said that almost five-hundreds tribal police(Khasadars)hailing from Bara subdivision of Khyber Agency have quit their jobs as Lashkar-e-Islam Chief Mangal Bagh warned them to leave their jobs earlier Friday evening.

Tariq Hayat Khan Friday evening talking to media at his office said that those who denied of their duties would be fire soon and would be replaced soon."It is not mean that security forces will end their operation in Bara but fresh soldiers will occupy them and will flush out the militants from Bara"PA said.

The incident took place as on Thursday night LI chief Mangal Bagh warned Khasadars personnel to quit their duties or face the dire consequences.

Accoding to the viable socurces 1,000 tribal police of the Bara Tehsil have stopped performing duty after a threatening speech by the outlawed Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) chief Mangal Bagh asking the tribal police to quit the job or face consequences.

The political administration officials, on the other hand, rejected the numbers of the denying Khasdars that they were total five-hundreds.The official said they would recruit 1,100 more personnel to keep the peace of Bara subdivision of Khyber Agency being under the virtual control of the LI militants over the past four years.

Mangal Bagh was speaking on his illegal FM radio channel on Thursday night, said that anyone of the Khassadars who continued performing duty would be fined of one million rupees. Besides, his house would also be demolished by the LI men, he warned.

“Houses of Khassadars will be demolished and they will be fined ten-lac rupees,” said Mangal Bagh threating on his FM radio. Many Khassadars had quit their jobs after a similar warning from the banned LI chief last year.

Some of the Khassadars hailed from Sipah tribe of Bara, to which Bagh belongs, had already ceased performing duties. The house of a Khassadar line officer (in charge) Noor Muhammad, who also belongs to Sipah and is relative of Mangal Bagh, was raided by security personnel but he escaped unhurt.

Locals said rest of the Khassadars left their jobs following the Thursday night announcement by Mangal Bagh.

Responding to the Mangal Bagh’s announcement and the quitting of Khassadars, the political Agent Khyber Tariq Hayat Khan said a fresh force of Khsadars would be recruited in the days ahead.Talking to media, Political Agent Tariq Hayat Khan said all those who stopped performing duties stood dismissed and the administration would recruit 1,100 fresh personnel.

He said who not gave attention to the LI threat and continued their jobs would be promoted to the next ranks while their houses would be protected with the FC personnel.

Curfew was relaxed from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm thus increasing another hour of relaxation. Earlier, the curfew relaxation hours were from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.Meanwhile, sources said that smuggling of cattle, fertilizers and sugar continued through Bara to Afghanistan. Dozens of trucks crossed the area in the night to move into Afghanistan through Soor Ghar and Door Baba areas.

Sources said the trucks loaded with cattle, sugar and fertilizer passed through Peshtakhara and Sarband police stations to enter Bara Qadeem (old Bara). The vehicles pass through Qambarabad, Malak Dinkhel and Soor Ghar areas to reach Afghanistan.They said most the cattle were brought from Punjab and smuggled to Afghanistan triggering the rates of meat to Rs180 per kilogram in the local market.