KHAR: The provincial government has formed a committee for the peaceful settlement of the ongoing border dispute between the Bajaur and Mohmand tribal districts.

An official of the district administration told Dawn on Friday that the 10-member committee was constituted by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary on the directives of the chief minister.

He said that body comprised of secretary home and tribal affairs, the provincial police chief, principal secretary to the chief minister, COS headquarters 11 Corps, ISI sector commander, commissioner Peshawar division, DIG Mardan region, a representative of IGFC (north), and deputy commissioners of Mohmand and Bajaur districts.

The official said the committee had been tasked with resolving the border dispute with peaceful means.

Meanwhile, the elders of Khyber tribal district have also launched efforts to resolve the border dispute between Bajaur and Mohmand districts.

In this regard, a delegation led by former MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi visited Bajaur on Friday and met with former KP governor Eng Shaukatullah Khan.

Also in the day, political leaders threatened to violate the Section 144 if the authorities failed to get the Bajaur-Peshawar Road reopened till Saturday (today).

They made the warning while addressing a press conference at the Bajaur Press Club.

PTI MNAs Gul Dad Khan and Gul Zafar Khan, Senator Hidayatullah Khan, JI MPA Sirajuddin Khan, PML-N’s Shahabuddin Khan, JI’s Sahibzada Haroon Rasheed, ANP’s Gul Afzal Khan, PPP’s Aurangzeb, JUI-F’s Said Badshah and others expressed anger over the blockade of the road at Mamad Gat area for last six days by the people of Mohmand tribal district.

They asked the Mohmand people to end the protest as it was violation of the government’s directives to avoid gatherings and maintain social distancing to combat the Covid-19 outbreak.

They lamented that the provincial government and the Mohmand administration had kept silence over the prolonged protest.

They warned that the road blockade could trigger an armed clashed between the people of the neighbouring districts.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2020