| I must say, the civic discourse in Pakland is rather...robust. |
Followers of Mengal Bagh forcibly occupied a number of shops in the main Bara bazaar earlier in the week, spawning the latest wave of unrest in the tribal region.
In Landikotal, armed tribesmen from Khyber Pakhai Zakhakhel continued patrolling the main road to prevent Mengal Bagh and his followers from entering the area. Residents took up small and heavy weapons in order to deal with any unpleasant situation in a bid to protect their area in case of a possible attack by Mengal led-group. "We are carrying weapons for self-defence," said Shakir Afridi, a leader of the patrolling group.
The people of Pakhai Zakhakhel went to the Brug area on the invitation of some local elders to hold a public meeting (jirga) there at Karamna, but the local people were not present. They held a gathering at a mosque. Addressing the gathering here, Maoeen Shah, Malik Abdul Raziq, Jan Syed, Khaid Khan and Abdul Ghafoor stressed that the people of Zakha Khel Bazaar were their brothers but they had made a blunder when they had invited Mengal Bagh to the bazaar to damage the peace in the area. The speakers invited the people of Bazaar to forget about the