A Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) commander said on Friday that LI chief Mangal Bagh has given his consent to a jirga's peace agreement with the government and said the LI would abide by all the terms and conditions. "We will however continue our activities against criminal elements in Bara," the commander quoted the LI chief as telling the jirga.
Locals said the 18-member jirga of the Afridi tribes called on Mangal Bagh in Tirah Valley and briefed him about their agreement formed with the government on Wednesday.
JUI-F jirga: A separate jirga of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) also met the LI chief in Tirah on Friday evening and discussed with him an end to the ongoing fighting between Ansarul Islam (AI) and his outfit in the remote valley.
The JUI-F had constituted a jirga three days ago to meet aggrieved parties in all the tribal agencies and discuss the restoration of peace and stability in the area. JUI-F's provincial general secretary Shujaul Mulk is leading the jirga. JUI-F information secretary Haji Jalil Jan told Daily Times that the jirga would meet AI chief Qazi Mahboob on Saturday.
Jan said the jirga members would leave for Aurakzai Agency on Saturday evening and reach Hangu district on Sunday morning.
There shall be a grand jirga in Hangu on Sunday where the JUI-F delegation will present its report on its meetings with the LI and AI chiefs and its peace plan for the rest of the tribal agencies, said Jan.
According to locals, around 50 activists from the LI and AI have been killed and scores of others injured in clashes between the two militant outfits in Tirah Valley over the past 20 days.
25 LI militants freed: Also on Friday, the Khyber Agency political administration freed 25 more LI militants from Central Jail, Peshawar, officials told Daily Times.
The number of those freed from captivity after the agreement between Afridi tribes and political administration has now reached 33.