Miranshah:
One week long protest sit-in against a deadly quadcopter strike in the MIR Ali area of the North Waziristan Tribal District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa concluded on Tuesday night after successful negotiations between protest leaders and government officials.
All the entry and starting points that had been blocked by the protesters have now been reopened.
The drone attack took place last week in the Hormuz area of Mir Ali, where a quadcopter fell explosives on a residential house, killed four children from the same family and critically wounded their mother with several other women.
The incident triggered widespread indignation, where local tribal men and rights activists condemned it as a gross violation of human rights. The protest-in-in was lasting since the strike day.
According to protest leader Mufti Baitullah, the government and the local tribal elders reached a consensus on important demands that are expected to bring relief to the affected families and promote trust building in the conflict -packed region.
The agreement includes a compensation package for the deceased, a study of the Hormuz incident, immediate restoration of Internet services, the release of a withheld tribe’s elderly and replacement of a local security employee.
Baitullah, who explained the details of the agreement, stated that a compensation package would be announced to the families of those martyrated in the drone strike.
He also noted that law enforcement authorities would refrain from using drones, surveillance cameras or mortar shells on the local population in the future.
Secondly, an impartial committee will be composed to conduct a transparent study of the Hormuz strike.
The local community has demanded representation in this committee to ensure that facts are precisely revealed. Third, Internet services in the region are immediately restored to enable access to information and support educational and commercial activity.
Fourth, tribe Jirgas will be called in to resolve the problems of the release of tribal oldest Malik Akbar Khan, withdrawal of military staff from Mir Ali Hospital and cancellation of the curfew.
Fifth, a guarantee has been given that no drone attack will be performed under the command of the current local security employee. Protesters have warned that in the event of a violation of these terms, they will close all operations in resource extraction companies operating in the North -Waziristan.
Local residents have described the result of the negotiations as a “partial success”, emphasizing that they expect concrete actions rather than verbal insurance.
