Two days after escaping a suicide attack, pro-government warlord Mullah Nazir today ordered Mehsud tribesmen and Taliban fighters to leave areas in South Waziristan under the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe.
Nazir, who finalised a peace deal with the Pakistani military in 2007, issued the directive following a jirga attended by leaders of his militant faction, a peace committee of the Ahmedzai Wazir clan and other tribal elders and clerics.
The jirga was held at Wana, the largest town of South Waziristan Agency.
The jirga warned that any tribesman found sheltering Mehsud tribesmen or militants after December 5 would be fined
Rs 1 million rupees and have their homes demolished.
Announcements made on loudspeakers in Wana, Azam Warsak, Karikort and Toikhula warned Mehsud tribesmen to leave the
area by December 5 or face action.
Nazir was injured in a suicide attack in Wana that killed seven persons.
His faction is one of four major Taliban groups that joined the Al Qaeda-brokered Shura-e-Murakeba alliance.
Nazir has enemies among Uzbek fighters and the Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan, which is dominated by Mehsud tribesmen and led by Hakimullah Mehsud.
—————————–PTI