KHYBER: Enraged Zakhakhel tribesmen blocked the main highway leading to Torkham on Saturday and announced that they would take up arms in self-defence after two men were killed in a targeted attack late on Friday evening.

Led by local tribal elder Malak Abdullah Khan, the protesters — including scores of political party activists, civil society members and tribesmen — announced that armed volunteers would be assigned the responsibility of patrolling local areas.

They also announced a complete ban on motorcycle riding and barred all government employees belonging to the Zakhakhel tribe from performing their official duties until a durable solution for restoring peace was found.

Furthermore, they called for a boycott of polio vaccination campaigns and the closure of all government and private schools in the Zakhakhel area.

The protesters also refused to meet any government functionary until a meaningful crackdown was launched against suspected militants holed up in Mazreena and the surrounding localities.

They also advised local police personnel against wearing uniforms to avoid being targeted.

A fine of Rs1 million was announced for anyone found spying for either outlawed militant groups or law enforcement agencies.

The protesters said the road blockade would continue until those involved in the targeted killing were apprehended and the area was cleared of all undesirable elements.

The road closure also suspended the repatriation of Afghan families, leaving many vehicles carrying Afghan nationals stranded.

Furthermore, the Zakhakhel elders criticised a series of raids carried out on private residences. They said that armed men, mostly local residents, regularly patrolled the main road at night.

The highway protest followed the killing of two people in the Sultan Khel area of Landi Kotal late on Friday evening.

According to police, the two men, who were relatives, were gunned down by assailants riding motorcycles in front of their house.

Police said both men died on the spot, while the attackers managed to escape to a nearby hilly area, where a search operation was later conducted.

The incident was the third of its kind since Ramazan. Earlier, unidentified gunmen targeted two policemen and a teenage relative of a police officer in the same area.

KHYBER: The Peshawar-Torkham Highway was reopened on Sunday following a temporary closure by Sultan Khel tribesmen protesting the handling of ‘targeted killings’ in their area by Zaka Khel elders and government authorities.

Two Sultan Khel residents were gunned down by unidentified assailants on Friday evening — in the same area where two policemen had been targeted over the last few months.

The fresh violence prompted Sultan Khel residents from the Zaka Khel tribe to block the Peshawar-Torkham Highway by staging a protest on Saturday. The road closure also temporarily suspended the repatriation of Afghan families via the Torkham border.

Murad Hussain, a leading figure among the protesters, told Dawn on Sunday that a negotiating committee comprising young Sultan Khel tribesmen was formed to hold talks with government functionaries to find ways to restore peace in the Landi Kotal tehsil, while also securing the main Peshawar-Torkham Highway from nighttime terrorist movement reported in the area.

The committee demanded that the local administration either completely ban pillion riding on the main road or allow it only for those who were officially registered with the traffic police and security forces.

The committee also agreed to end residents’ boycott of the polio vaccination drive, and stated that all government and private educational institutions would be reopened on Monday.

Sources among the protesters said that the majority of residents —mostly youngsters — were outraged as elders had not taken them into confidence while negotiating with government officials over putting an immediate end to targeted killings.

No date for negotiations between the concerned authorities and the newly formed committee was announced.