Pakistanis return to tribal area after offensive

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Pakistanis return to tribal area after offensive


By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD
The Associated Press
Saturday, December 4, 2010; 7:58 AM

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan -- A handful of families returned to their homes in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region Saturday for the first time since a government offensive to clear the area of militants sent them fleeing more than a year ago.

About 140 people from 16 families were the first civilians to return since the operation, but the group was smaller than the 200 families the army had hoped would make the journey Saturday. They were also just a fraction of the 400,000 people displaced by the military operation, in which about 30,000 ground troops quickly cleared what had been a major hub for al-Qaida and the Taliban.

The reluctance of families to return highlights the difficulties the army faces in maintaining security in the region months after it declared victory. Getting the displaced to go back - preferably with a pledge to keep insurgents out - is essential for success against the insurgency. The Taliban benefit from having the army tied up dealing with refugees, unable to expand their offensive to other areas in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Brigadier Shahzad Raza, the senior army official in charge of the repatriation operation, said Saturday that families from six villages had been selected to return, as their areas had been cleared of militants and secured by the military. He said it was disappointing that so few decided to make the trip.

Mohammad Zubair Mehsud, one of the displaced people who declined to return, said his family wanted to go home but worried about the requirement that they travel in a government convoy.

"Going back in a convoy under military escort means you will definitely become a target, so we should be allowed to go on our own," he said.

He also complained about the government's offered compensation of just 25,000 rupees - about $300 - for damage to their homes and other losses.

An estimated 1 million people have been displaced by Pakistani army operations against militants in the northwest. But unlike many who live in camps, most members of the Mehsud tribe that populates South Waziristan are staying with relatives in the border towns of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan.

Many of the Mehsuds who were supposed to return Saturday said that with their homes destroyed a return now would mean having to live in tents.

"Taliban are threatening us and once we go there we will be stuck with no proper living arrangements," said Ibrahim Mehsud.

Azam Tariq, spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban, warned Mehsud tribesmen not return to their homeland, saying the government was trying to trick them into fighting against the Taliban.

"We will continue our fight until the army leaves our area, and in this situation the return of Mehsud tribesmen is harmful for them," he told The Associated Press by phone Saturday.

Many Mehsud, while fearful of retribution, criticize the Taliban for bringing trouble upon them. But there is also anger at the army - seen by many in the fiercely independent region as a foreign force - for destroying property and uprooting lives.

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Pakistanis return to tribal area after offensive