Pakistan: Protest continues in North Waziristan for 23rd day against target killings
Aug 11, 2022
North Waziristan [Pakistan], August 11 : Protests continued for the 23rd day in Pakistan's North Waziristan against the targeted killings.
Taking to Twitter, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement said that the locals had busted the fake encounter drama in North Waziristan. 
"Protest movement continues on 23th day in North Waziristan against target killings. Locals had busted the fake / staged security situation drama in North Waziristan & deep state role in target killings," PTM tweeted.
PTM, a rights-based resistance movement in Pakistan, which has been critical of state policies in the tribal belt has ruffled feathers among the Pakistan military with its demand for a probe into gross human rights violations conducted by the Army.
The protests had begun against the growing incidents of targeted killings in the district as dozens of people lost their lives in those incidents.
Earlier, on August 4, tens of thousands of agitators took to roads suspending vehicular traffic for long hours and also burning old tyres. A fifty membered-strong committee led the protest as the residents placed boulders on the Bannu-Miramshah Road, Thall-Mirali Road, Ghulam Khan Road, Razmak Road, and Datakhel Road in the region.
According to Dawn, business centres, markets and shops were closed in Miramshah, Mirali and other small towns of the district on the call of a jirga of the Uthmanzai tribe.
Initially, the residents had organised protests in Eidak village but later extended them to the entire district. Senior officials of the district administration also held several meetings with tribal elders in an attempt to persuade them to call off the protests on Wednesday. However, committee head Malik Rab Nawaz said the North Waziristan Political Alliance, transporters and other associations 'fully' supported the protest.
Locals in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal district staged a sit-in blocking the main highway connecting Miramshah with other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the previous week as well to protest against the targeted killings and lawlessness in the area.
A 30-member jirga comprising elders of all branches of the Uthmanzai tribe was constituted to discuss the situation with the local officials.
Notably, there have been several cases of such killings in North Waziristan over the past months. Earlier, the workers of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and Utmanzai tribes also been protesting in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's North Waziristan against the killing of its local leaders and lawlessness in the district.
The protest movement has been started under the direction of the Uthmanzai tribe's elders, the main tribe from which the Dawar and Ahmadzai Wazir tribes of North Waziristan descend, Dawn reported.
The protesters had also blocked the Bannu-Miranshah Road and Miranshah-Ghulam Khan road to press the government for acceptance of their demands.
