KHYBER: Bara tehsil was largely tense on Friday, a day after five policemen were martyred in a terrorist attack on an official compound.

Most residents stayed home citing the “deteriorating law and order situation” as the reason.

They insisted that attendance in mosques for Friday prayers was low, while Bara bazaar and link roads wore a deserted look.

Traders said they’re apprehensive about their security as the terror attack took place near business centres.

Former president of the Bara Traders’ Union Said Ayaz told Dawn that members of his community were in a state of shock and fear following the gun battle between the police and suicide bombers at the entrance of the tehsil headquarters complex and police station adjacent to Bara bazaar.

Mosque attendance low, bazaar and roads deserted

He said traders and shopkeepers were “clueless about their future” as the law and order situation was deteriorating fast.

“A sense of grief and fear has gripped the entire Bara with people expecting each other to calm them and address their grief and fear,” he said.

The trader leader said commercial activity was restored in the area after decade-long fight against militancy but Thursday’s terrorist attack threatened it undermining the confidence of traders.

Tehsil council chairman Mufti Kafeel told Dawn that Bara residents had raised questions about the ability of law-enforcement agencies to tackle the menace of terrorism after it reared its ugly head in the tehsil again.

“A concerted effort is required to motivate residents to rise against the situation and participate in the July 25 peace march announced by the Bara Siyasi Ittehad,” he said.

Mr Kafeel alleged that some “invisible hands” were at work to push Bara back to the situation of mid-2000 when the entire Bara and Tirah valley was under effective control of militant organisations and a parallel but utterly cruel administration of extremists was established.

“The situation is getting out of control with every passing day with no clue of any improvement and the local residents felt insecure and threatened,” he insisted.

Bara Siyasi Ittehad president Shah Faisal Afridi said that only a ‘mass rising’ would compel authorities to take effective steps for the improvement of law and order situation.

He said that his organisation had already announced a peace march for July 25, while a large rally would be staged in the Tirah area the same day.

Mr Afridi regretted that those responsible for establishing peace in Bara were nowhere in sight, while the armed militants roamed around in different parts of Tirah and Bara targeting police and security forces.

“There is a criminal silence on part of those supposed to tackle this precarious situation,” he said.

He said the BSI was firmly behind the people of Bara and would forcefully raise its voice in order to check further acts of terrorism and remind law-enforcement agencies of their responsibilities of restoring peace.

Meanwhile, all three policemen martyred in the gun battle with suicide bombers were laid to rest in their natives areas of Bara.

People visited the homes of the martyrs to offer Fateha and sympathised with their families.

Sources in the families of the martyred policemen told Dawn that all three officials belonged to lower middle class with two from Malakdinkhel and one from Shalobar tribe.

They said that Hanif Afridi, an elder brother of a martyred policeman from Shalobar received bullet injuries in Thursday’s attack and was under treatment in the hospital.

An elder brother of a martyred policeman from Malakdinkhel, who was a member of the then Khyber Khasadar force, had embraced martyrdom during a gun battle with militants in Bara a few years ago.

KILLED: A young man was shot dead in Landi Kotal area here on Friday.

Rescue 1122 officials said Shan Ali, 18, was shot to death by Asad Khan after being asked to climb down the hill, which overlooked the latter’s house.

The residents said the deceased had climbed the hill near Hamza Baba mausoleum along with friends to enjoy the pleasant weather.

They said workers of the rescue service shifted the body to a local hospital for postmortem. The police claimed to have arrested the gunman.

Published in Dawn, July 22th, 2023