Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday rejected reports of a large-scale military operation in Tirah Valley, maintaining security forces are continuing intelligence-based operations that do not require mass displacements.
Addressing a joint press conference with Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant to the P.M. for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Affairs Ikhtiar Wali, he claimed the recent displacement that had drawn public criticism was a routine, seasonal process prompted by the harsh winter season.
“There has been no operation in Tirah Valley for many years. These are all assumptions,” he claimed, adding temporary migration during the winters was a routine matter. “During snowfall, people migrate from valleys located along the Pak-Afghan border. Migration from the Tirah Valley also takes place every year,” he said, lamenting that efforts were underway to project the situation as a crisis.
Noting the provincial government had allocated Rs. 4 billion to support displaced families, he said a notification in this regard referred to consultations between the provincial government and a local Jirga. The Jirga, he said, had met representatives of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) last year and then communicated their discussions to KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
“Around 400 to 500 TTP members, along with their families, are present in Tirah,” said Asif, emphasizing that security forces would continue intelligence-based operations targeting the militants. However, he stressed, the armed forces had not sought any evacuation.
The minister said the government was willing to take journalists to Tirah Valley to show the situation on the ground.
Reports of a military operation in Tirah started circulating in December, with evacuations commencing the same month. The provincial government has repeatedly alleged the displacement is the result of a military operation, with Afridi claiming the province was not asked “permission” to conduct such an operation.