With scars of militancy, Bajaur inching towards peace

Delawar Jan

KHAR, Bajaur Agency: Charred hulks of vehicles, pockmarked structures and ruins of destroyed buildings provided the traces of pitched battles that were fought between the Pakistani security forces and militants affiliated to al-Qaeda and Taliban.

“This is Loisam,” a local pointed to flattened houses on either side of the road. “And here was its bustling bazaar,” he looked towards heaps of mud-stone rubble that jutted out from the ground.

The Pakistani troops swooped on Loisam in September 2008 after the government decided to retake Bajaur from al-Qaeda and Taliban. In this battle, Loisam was completely destroyed. Five years after the attack, the town is today a site of ruins with no signs of reconstruction.

Hundreds of miles away in Nowshera district, the residents have set up a small Loisam in tents at Jalozai camp. “My house in Loisam is now a pile of rocks,” said Ajab Khan outside his tent at Jaloza camp, where he has been living since August 2008. “I go there and just look at the ruins of the house,” he expressed helplessness.

Zarif Khan, also Loisam’s resident, said they were not being allowed to rebuild their razed houses. “Now the security forces suspect us as strangers as we lived outside Loisam for five years,” he said.

Some said they were unwilling to return because they could not run businesses as the bazaar no more existed. The people were also not permitted to grow crops, they added. “We are forced to carry out patrol at night, which we can’t,” Azizullah said.

Sufferings from the Taliban rule and the military operation have seared into people’s memories. However, life in Bajaur indicates that peace is stabilising and the agency is recovering from conflict and violence after Taliban were defeated or weakened.

The security situation has apparently improved so much that all checkpoints are manned by personnel of the Frontier Corps and Khasadar Force. Not a single soldier from the regular army was seen at any checkpoint from Nawagai to up to Lower Dir, an indication that authorities have faith in paramilitary forces and the local Khasadars to maintain peace.

“Taliban can no more show up in villages and towns,” a local journalist said. “Their activities have dropped to nil and the security situation has improved precipitously,” he added. However, some people said security off the main road was still uncertain.

After offering sacrifices, the tribesmen have now started to reap the benefits of improving peace. Farmers work in fields and labourers build roads, people go to offices and students to educational institutions. Even topics of discussion have changed. Taliban and militancy no more dominate conversations as people now talk about electricity crisis, water shortage and chilly weather, an indication that other problems concern people more than security.

Khar bazaar and markets in other towns are abuzz with business activities. “I am doing the best business of my life these days,” said Shaukatullah, who runs a hardware shop in Khar bazaar. “I have expanded my business, yet I run short of many items,” he added. The shopkeeper has noticed a boom in construction section, saying most of the people were reconstructing destroyed houses while some were building new buildings. “My business had ruined in 2007 but now I am reaching new levels, which shows that people have confidence in the regained peace,” he said.

Masood Jan, who runs a store, said his sales had soared by 100 per cent. He said his family had sent one brother each to Peshawar and Rawalpindi for business as it had dropped sharply after 2007. “Now we have recalled both of them, as business has picked up in Bajaur,” he added. The general retailer said previously bazaar would mostly remain closed due to patrol by Taliban and the army but now situation had stabilised.

Road users say the Peshawar-Mohmand-Khar Road is secured for travelling. After the political administration lifted night-time curfew in October last, people travel on this road even at night. “I have been travelling on the road even at night. It’s secured,” said a taxi driver. “After curfew was lifted, we can now continue business late into the evening,” Masood Jan said.

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