PESHAWAR, Jan 18: The condemnation of killing of 18 people in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency continued on Friday as the Peshawar High Court Bar Association and several political parties demanded arrest of the killers allegedly belonging to security forces and end to the military operation in Bara.

The funeral prayers in absentia were offered for the killed persons here at Bagh-i-Naran, which was attended by tribal leaders of political parties and student organisations. The prayer was led by Sahibzada Haroonur Rasheed, tribal region chief of Jamaat-i-Islami.

The gathering was addressed amid tight security by several leaders, including former MNAs Waris Khan Afridi and Mohammad Shah Afridi, former senator Nasir Khan, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf leader Jawed Afridi, Ikhtiar Afridi of JI and others.

The speakers condemned the callous attitude of the government and said that even the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor could not implement the decisions made in a meeting with him a day after the killings on Wednesday wherein he had agreed to stop indiscriminate artillery shelling in Bara by security forces; allow limited opening of Bara bazaar and pay proper compensation to families of the deceased.

They said that the military operation had been in progress for last four years without any achievement and instead innocent people had been targeted. They regretted that over three-year curfew in Bara was the longest perhaps in the world and had crippled life there as hundreds of thousands of tribal people were turned into internally displaced persons.

The speakers slammed the police for use of brute force against peaceful protesters in Peshawar and taking away the coffins placed outside the Governor’s House.

The PHCBA also condemned the occurrence and stated: “We the members of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association are deeply offended by the recent killings of innocent tribesmen occurred at hands of armed forces in Bara, Khyber Agency.”

A meeting of the association, chaired by its president Abdul Lateef Afridi, demanded of the government to arrest the culprits and announce “Shuhada Package” and Diyat (blood money) for families of the deceased.

The meeting was addressed by Lateef Afridi, Ijaz Mohmand, Samiullah Afridi and others. The participants also condemned the killing of 22 Levies personnel by terrorists in FR Peshawar recently.

The participants demanded that the jurisdiction of superior courts should be extended to tribal areas. The meeting denounced the prolonged curfew in various areas of Khyber Agency and urged the federal government to take practical measures to bring life back to normalcy and end the military operation. Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) staged a brief sit-in near the Peshawar Press Club against the Bara incident. The party leaders, including Abdul Jalil Jan and Khalid Waqar Chamkani, demanded an end to the military operation and proper inquiry into the occurrence.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Fazal Kareem Afridi demanded of the federal government to order judicial inquiry into the killing of the tribesmen.

Addressing a press conference here, he condemned the police action against peaceful protesters and snatching away of the bodies and demanded immediate resignation of Governor Masood Kausar. Similarly, activists of Watanpal Youth Organisation staged a protest demonstration here on the Ring Road and demanded of the government to arrest the killers. The demonstration was addressed by WYO president Amanat Ali Bacha and its other office-bearers.

In Nowshera, the JUI-F and JI held a joint protest rally against the killing of 18 tribesmen and demanded of the government to register the case against the ‘real killers’.

The protest rally after passing through various roads reached the main Shobera Chowk and blocked the main G.T. road. The rally was led by JUI-F district chief Qari Aslam, JI leader Inayatur Rehman and others.

They alleged that the government had started military operation in tribal areas just to please the US. They said that the government had miserably failed to provide security to people.

In Timergara, the Lower Dir chapter of JI on Friday held a protest demonstration against the killing of civilians in Bara and demanded of the government to order investigation into the incident.

The protesting JI workers gathered in front of the local press club where they were was addressed by Maulana Hidayatullah, Mohammad Rasool Khan, Yaqub Khan, and IJT nazim Ahmad Faisal.

They said that the incident was a clear violation of human rights.