Residents of the city’s affluent Hayatabad locality are shifting to their native towns, as clashes erupt between two rival groups in the neighbouring Khyber Agency. Several families are not sending their children to schools amid fears of a broader conflict between the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), a militant group headed by Mangal Bagh, and the people of the Kooki Khel tribe, and the fear of an operation by the security forces. One person was killed and several others wounded in an exchange of fire between the two groups on Wednesday evening. “I have moved my family to Nowshera following the fighting in Jamrud last night,” a local resident said. An official of the Turk-Pakistan International School said that students’ attendance had dropped over the last two days. The official, who is also a resident of Hayatabad, said the residents were living in a fear since a rocket attack on the area more than one and a half month ago. “We’re vulnerable to threat because the warring sides are stationed on the two ends of Hayatabad,” he said.
Hayatabad is also the biggest industrial area in the city and its industrial sector is linked with the areas of Jamrud sub-division on one side and Bara tehsil on the other.
An official at a local cable-manufacturing factory said that employees from Jamrud were absent on Thursday. Senior officials of two local factories refused to comment on the issue when approached for comments. The owner of a marble factory said that there was fear among both workers and industrialists. He said that it was the governmentÂ’s responsibility to provide security to the people.
A security guard at a factory told Daily Times that owners of big factories were avoiding making comments because of the fear of reprisals from local militant groups.