An all-tribes jirga of Tank district has decided to meet pro-Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud to seek his help in bringing normalcy to the district, bordering South Waziristan, as schools, government offices and commercial centres were closed amidst fears of more Taliban attacks after a clash with police on the premises of a school on Monday. AFP reported that Taliban militants abducted the principal of the school, Farid Mehsud, on Tuesday. He had called for police protection after the Taliban visited his school in a bid to recruit youth for jihad. “Government offices, bazaars and schools were closed after midday,” said schoolteacher Mumtaz Khan as Tank Nazim Riaz Kundi ordered the closure of all schools for a week on security grounds. Senator Saleh Shah of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal said that representatives of all tribes in the district would meet Mehsud on Wednesday with a “peace message”. |