To register their protest against lawlessness in their area, the residents of Bakkakhel staged a demonstration in Mandi Bazaar on Monday, reported Dawn.
The elders from the tribe and young people staged roadblock on Bannu-Miranshah Road by laying the coffin of a young man killed in an explosion on Sunday. Masoom Wazir, Waliullah, Gohar Wazir, and other elders spoke at the event and denounced the bomb explosion, claiming that it killed an innocent youth and injured two others. A report in Pakistani newspaper read that the protesters stated they were gathering the bodies of loved ones killed in acts of terrorism and expressed serious concern about the lawlessness in the districts of Bakkakhel, Janikhel, and Mamandkhel. They claimed that individuals were too afraid to leave their homes to visit bazaars and markets to buy necessities. They said that the tribal people will not remain silent; instead, they will raise their voices for the restoration of normalcy in their communities. The speakers declared that they will soon call a tribal jirga to plan out a course of action and to pressure the government to recognise that sustaining peace in the area is its primary duty. They also urged the government to act in order for people to be able to support their families and improve law and order, according to a report in Dawn. The protesters dispersed later and the route was made accessible to traffic. They also laid to rest the young man who died in the explosion of an IED placed at a motorcycle on Sunday. On Monday, two people--one of them a teenager--were shot and murdered in separate events in different portions of the Lakki Marwat district. According to the police, Barkatullah, Ghazanfar Ali, and Shakir shot and killed Naqeebullah in Langerkhel Hathi Khan village due to a long-standing grudge. The attackers were able to flee. Elsewhere, in the Shagai region, armed rivals killed Mohammad Ali Shah, 15, and injured his 13-year-old brother Syed Ali Shah. A case was lodged against Manzoor Shah and Rehmatullah Shah. In another incident, a teenage boy was shot at and injured by two unidentified men in the Paharakhel Pakka area, Dawn reported. (ANI)
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