 Paramilitary forces and tribal police on Saturday took over the headquarters of cleric Mufti Munir Shakir in Nallah Kajori in Khyber Agency after his supporters left the premises hours before an imminent operation.
"Aaaarrr! The paramilitary forces and the tribal police are comin'! They're bringin' heavy weapons, boyz!"
"Ummm... I think I'll go get help!"
"I'll go wit' yez!"
"Me, too!" |
All arrangements for an early morning operation against ShakirÂ’s supporters were finalised but the headquarters were vacated during the night, security sources told Daily Times.
| "Curly-toed slippers, don't fail us now!" |
Troops had closed entry and exit points to the area, but the operation was delayed at the request of tribal elders who wanted to give negotiations a last chance. The tribal elders ultimately convinced the clericÂ’s supporters to vacate the headquarters peacefully.
"What kinda heavy weapons?"
"Big ones!"
"We're outta here!"
"Bravely outta here! We ain't scared, mind yez!"
"No, no! Certainly not! Here's yer turban!" |
It was hoped that normalcy would return to Khyber Agency with the government controlling the fort-like headquarters housing ShakirÂ’s supporters. Officials at the NWFP GovernorÂ’s FATA secretariat said that operation would continue until Doomsday complete peace was restored to the area. Mangal Bagh, head of the Islami Lashkar of Mufti group, left the headquarters to get help in Norway for an undisclosed location along with hundreds of his supporters, tribal sources said.
According to sources, Bagh said that the decision to vacate the headquarters had been taken on the directives of Shakir to “avoid bloodshed”.
Bara had been held hostage to a tussle between Deobandi cleric Mufti Munir Shakir and Barelvi Pir Saifur Rehman for the last four months and the conflict had resulted in the loss of 28 lives.
| None of them, as far as we know, holy men. |
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