PESHAWAR: A tribal militia fighting the Taliban in a suburban area close to Peshawar decided to quit the fight, citing lack of support from the government as their main concern.

The Adezai anti-militant lashkar (militia), who had been fighting militancy along the borders of tribal regions Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency, was dissolved on Thursday.

“The continued lack of support from the government and refusal to provide assistance that was promised to the volunteers has forced the lashkar to quit,” Chief of the Adezai Peace Committee Dilawar Khan told reporters.

“The government has withdrawn its support to the strong force of more than 5,000 volunteers, who had been at the forefront in the fight against insurgency in the area,” Khan said.

Khan claimed that the militia had lost at least 105 men in their anti-Taliban fight, while over 50 volunteers had been injured.

“We had supported law-enforcement agencies in rooting out militancy from Adezai, Mattani, Kalakhel up until Dara Adamkhel, and were also involved in stopping militant onslaught on Peshawar, but the government has turned its back on us,” the group’s chief said.

According to Khan, since the volunteers from these tribal regions picked up arms against the Taliban, they are threatened by the militants.

The government, he said, had taken back the weapons provided to the militia

Authorities in the provincial Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government had previously objected to increasing the supply of weapons and support to the tribal militia due to administrative concerns.