Bannu Peace Committee presents 16 demands to CM Gandapur

A Jirga between the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Bannu Peace Committee [an envoy of the elders of the Bannu district] was held at the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar on Tuesday.

The elders from Bannu presented a 16-point list of demands to Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and expressed their concerns over the military's Azm-e-Istehkham Operation (AIO), reported 24NewsHD TV Channel. 

KP Government Spokesperson Barrister Dr Saif confirmed the Jirga at the CM's house and stated that it has been decided to call the Apex Committee meeting on Thursday.

He said it has been agreed that the Apex Committee meeting will take place on Thursday, with five advisors from the Bannu Peace Committee.

Barrister Dr Saif mentioned that a policy to restore law and order in the province would be formulated in the upcoming provincial Apex Committee meeting. 

The spokesperson said CM Ali Amin Gandapur discussed the situation in Bannu and terrorism with the Bannu Peace Committee members and expressed gratitude for their cooperation with the administration regarding the Bannu incident.

Spokesperson Dr Saif added that the members of the Bannu Peace Committee have expressed their trust in Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who will visit Bannu on Friday at their invitation. 

Regarding Jirga, the sources said it has been decided that the Bannu Peace Committee will continue the symbolic sit-in in Bannu.

Additionally, it was agreed to restore the authority of the police and activate the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Bannu while CM Ali Amin Gandapur's visit to Bannu on Friday is confirmed.

On July 15, as many as eight soldiers were martyred and 10 terrorists were killed when security forces personnel foiled a terror attack on Bannu Cantonment.

The next day, the ISPR issued a statement in which it described that a suicide car-bomber rammed his vehicle into the Cantonment wall, flattening a part of it.

In retaliation by the security forces, all the terrorists who attacked the cantonment on July 15 were killed in the clearance operation. The ISPR statement said Cantonment infrastructure was also damaged in the suicide car bomb blast.

On the other hand, a preliminary report prepared by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s Home and Tribal Affairs Department yesterday blamed “miscreants” for the melee at the peace rally that led to at least one death and over two dozen injuries in Bannu on July 19.

The initial report on the Bannu incident said that on July 19, “some miscreants” disguised as protesters threw stones as well as resorted to firing at the site of the security forces’ supply depot destroyed in the July 15 terrorist attack. 

The report recalled two incidents that rocked Bannu last week, i.e., a terrorist attack on the cantonment that claimed the lives of eight security personnel and three civilians, as well as the chaos at the peace rally.

It has been stated in the report that at 4:40 am on July 15, some terrorists attacked the supply depot’s gate in the limits of Bannu cantonment, in which eight security personnel and three citizens embraced martyrdom.

“The jawans of the Pakistan Army gave a befitting reply and shot dead all terrorists, who had received monetary assistance from abroad.”

The report has stated that on July 19, different political parties and traders’ associations took out a peace rally.

There were some troublemakers in the rally, who hurled stones at the site of the supply depot, besides setting the tents erected around it alight. “They also fired at the site using small weapons,” reads the report.   

One person was killed while 25 were injured in the incident.
One person was killed while 25 were injured in the incident, it has said, adding that KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur tasked the provincial ministers as well as parliamentarians with holding negotiations with the people leading the protesters. “The provincial government, in order to probe the incident, constituted a 40-member Jirga,” the report has said, adding the Jirga had held talks with the local administration, including the commissioner, deputy commissioner, regional police officer, and divisional police officer, and put forth a 16-point agenda.

Expressing “deep shock and anguish” at the two incidents, the report noted that on July 19, “the gathering of traders’ community along with political leaders and workers of different political parties and other organisations ended peacefully at Pretty Gate, Bannu City. Later on, the participants proceeded towards the Sports Complex."
However, it noted that “some miscreants in the garb of these protesters pelted stones on the security forces supply depot, set ablaze the tents erected in place of the demolished wall of the depot, and resorted to small arms fire. The police deployed there took stock of the situation and endeavoured their best to take them out of the sensitive area.”

Reporter: Amir Shehzad