KHAR/GHALANAI, Jan 19: People and workers of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) on Saturday staged protest demonstrations in tribal areas against the killing of 18 innocent tribesmen, including women and children, in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on January 15.

In Bajaur Agency, hundreds of tribesmen and workers of religious and political parties held protests at the agency headquarters Khar and several towns to express solidarity with the victim families.

Former JUI-F senator Maulana Abdur Rasheed, Qari Mustafa, Mujahid Khan and others addressed the protest rally at Khar.

The speakers held the security forces responsible for the tragic incident, adding that the killings had shocked the people of tribal belt.

They demanded of the government to order immediate arrest of perpetrators of the attack and an impartial inquiry into the killing incident. They also called for an end to military operation in Bara and payment of compensation to relatives of slain tribesmen.

“The situation has deteriorated in tribal areas despite repeated military operations and innocent people continue to suffer,” they said.

They speakers proposed that negotiations should be held with all militant groups and stake-holders to seek a permanent solution to the long-standing conflict in the tribal region.

In Ghalanai, the headquarters of Mohmand Agency, workers and local leaders of the JUI-F held a protest demonstration in front of Mohmand Press Club against the Bara killings. The rally was led by JUI-F Mohmand chapter chief Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq and attended by the party workers and tribal people.

The protesters said that tribal people were voluntarily defending the country’s border and the government should help stop the harsh treatment meted out to them.

They came down hard on the government and police for torture of protesting students and relatives of the slain people.

Meanwhile, in a statement Jamaat-i-Islami Mohmand Agency leader Mohammad Saeed expressed concern over the brutalities inflicted on the people of Khyber Agency.

He said that the president, prime minister and foreign minister of Pakistan had made hue and cry over attack on Malala Yousufzai, but they were silent on the killing of 18 innocent tribesmen in a single day.