North Waziristan police issue security alert for NGO workers

The district police of North Waziristan has issued a security alert for NGO workers after four women aid workers were shot in the region’s Miran Shah on Monday.

According to the police, the women were working for NGO Sabawon as handcraft trainers. The NGO had signed a contract with the Bravo Institute of Technology, Peshawar.

The women were traveling to the Ippi village near Mirali when they were attacked.

Following this, the district police have issued a security alert regarding future attacks and have instructed police, NGO workers, and government officers to remain safe by implementing the following points:

• Limit their activities
• Avoid unnecessary events, programmes
• Use bulletproof cars and keep changing routes
• Keep an eye on suspicious people
• Keep numbers of the police control room [ 0928-311473] and the district police office [0928-313700] for emergency
• Avoid contact with strangers
• Refrain from giving details of your whereabouts
• Inform the police if you’re entering North Waziristan so that they can arrange security
• Contact the local police in case of any issue

SHOs and DPOs of multiple areas in the region have been instructed to ensure police officers are deployed outside police stations till 8pm every day.

The officers should be equipped for any attack. “The SHOs are directed to keep a close eye on weapon sale and illegal possession and punish perpetrators under the Arms Act, 2013,” the notification read.

The senior district police officers have been instructed to oversee all investigations.

FIR registered

On Tuesday, the FIR of the attack was registered by the driver of the vehicle, identified as Abdul Khaliq. It stated that the attack took place at 9:30am on Monday. “The suspects fired at us with a Kalashnikov,” the complainant said.

The perpetrators took the victims’ CNIC cards, mobile phones, and other valuables. Their faces were covered with a cloth.

It includes Section 7 [Punishment for acts of terrorism] of the Anti Terrorism Act and the following sections of the Pakistan Penal Code:

• Section 34:Acts done by several persons In furtherance of common intention
• Section 324: Attempt to murder
• Section 302:Punishment for murder

The deceased have been identified as Naheed Bibi, Irshad Bibi, Ayesha Bibi, and Javeria Bibi.

The police are conducting a search operation to trace and arrest the terrorists, the North Waziristan DPO said. No terrorist organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

People in Bannu told BBC Urdu that the women used to travel for over two hours to reach Mir Ali every day. They had been earning Rs16,000 per month. Two of them were sisters.

‘Border regions have their own dynamics’

Commenting on the attack, ISPR DG Major General Babar Iftikhar said that border regions have their own dynamics and people need to understand them. “Not every incident is of terrorism, there are law and order cases too.”

“It will take time for things to normalise,” he remarked. “We need to show patience and think of the bigger picture rather than being incident-specific.”

In 2017, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Raddul Fasad in merged districts.

According to locals, over 500 people have been killed in targeted attacks since 2017. These include local tribal elders, peace committee members, and the general public. But this is the first incident where women were targeted in the area.

It is considered against the culture of the area to kill women, said a local. In fact, such murders have been rare.