PESHAWAR: Internally displaced persons belonging to different localities of Khyber Agency have refused to go back to their homes unless the government provides them basic facilities.

They have been sitting at a protest camp along the Sher Shah Suri Road for past 34 days in favour of their demands.

Talking to Dawn on Saturday, Haji Iqbal Afridi said the tribal people had left their homes in a hurry, but now everything was missing and the buildings were badly damaged. “There are still over a number of areas like Ghulam Ali, Nahqai, Sukht, Amidi, Garhi where operation against terrorists is still going on and in the prevailing situation no one can return home,” Mr Afridi made clear.

The elder said the security agencies were also not allowing them to return in the sensitive areas, adding the areas which had been cleared of militants had no water and power supply, and educational institutions were destroyed.

Mr Afridi pointed out that many IDPs complained about facing difficulties in getting cash from ATM, and urged the federal government to conduct a comprehensive survey to ascertain number of the damaged and destroyed residential and commercial buildings in order to give compensation to the affected people.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2016