August 2, 2025
By Kaleem Ullah
LAHORE
As a military operation unfolds in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP), families get ready for some heavy displacement. A large number of families in tehsil Love Mamund in District Bajaur are vacating their homes and fleeing to nearby areas, where a few days ago, security forces launched a targeted military operation named “Operation Sarbakaf.” Uptil now, the Operation has ended up killing three people, including a minor, and injuring 12 others.
The fear of being trapped in an ongoing operation pushed many to start leave their homes and lives behind. When the administration imposed a three-day curfew in Love Mamund, from July 29 to 31 to conduct the operation, fear spread quickly through the area, and residents began to abandon their homes and escape the conflict zone.
In the Badisai area of Love Mamund, the Al-Khidmat Foundation – affiliated with the religio-political party Jamaat-e-Islami – has set up an aid camp to support the displaced population. District president of Al Khidmat Foundation, Shaherzad Khan, told Voicepk, they were doing a lot of work.
“We have established several aid camps where we are providing people with food, water, and animal fodder,” he said. “The first day was very busy as people arrived in large numbers. We registered at least 900 families. However, migration has slowed down now — (today) we registered only 250 families. Many have not registered themselves because they were afraid that we might be associated with the government and could cause problems for them later; others were too distressed to register.”
Military Operation terrifies locals
It was the second day of the curfew when people began fleeing their homes out of fear, moving to nearby villages to stay with relatives. Women and children were terrified and anxious, and many traveled on foot in extremely poor conditions. As curfew was imposed, vehicles were not allowed. Several families also missed official registration because they took remote and unmonitored routes to escape.
The curfew was relaxed a little by the government the next day, and people were allowed to travel in vehicles until 4 PM. Following this many people began arriving by car, but the fear and anger was there.
Al-Khidmat’s Shaherzad noted that when the government had initially announced a targeted operation, people assumed it would only affect those on the target-list, i.e. terrorists. But when civilians began to be killed and injured, thanks to errors made by the security forces, panic and fear spread rapidly.
Apart from this, the government had promised a one-day ceasefire with the public protest group Olasi Pasoon, which was staging a sit-in at Umari Chowk. But the very next day, a shell hit a house, injuring five people, including children. One critically injured person was airlifted to Peshawar by helicopter. This incident triggered a rapid and mass displacement from the area.
Commenting on the displacement, a journalist working with Voicepk from Bajaur, informed that the government and security forces had initially tried to prevent people from leaving, telling them there would be no donors to support the displaced. However, when residents realized that this was not a targeted operation, rather an indiscriminate shelling and bombardment of civilian homes, they began evacuating the area on their own—mostly on foot.
Jirgah elders sit down
Meanwhile, in response to the deteriorating security situation in Bajaur, former members of the National Assembly and tribal elders held a jirgah (tribal council) this morning in Badisai. They decided to initiate dialogue with the hardline militant group—the Taliban—present in the border areas.
Former MNA from Jamaat-e-Islami, Haroon Rashid, addressed the jirgah.
“We will go to the Taliban and request them to leave this area,” he said. “For the past 25 years, the ongoing war between the Taliban and the military has only brought destruction upon our people. If they do not agree or if they present conditions, another jirga will be convened to make a decision.”
Another journalist Shahnawaz Turkzai, who hails from the bordering Mohmand district and has been reporting on the region for decades, told Voicepk that the government had given tribal elders until 4 PM Friday to convince the Taliban to leave, otherwise a military operation would begin. A jirgah was already underway to discuss this matter with them.
Turkzai added that the region had already witnessed several military operations in the past, during which approximately 450,000 people were displaced.
After each operation, the government claimed to have eradicated terrorism, but in every instance, civilian homes and markets were destroyed, and a surge in security checkpoints made life even more difficult for residents. He also pointed out that billions of rupees were spent on border fencing, yet militants returned repeatedly — raising serious questions about the government’s intentions.
Haroon Rashid also spoke to Voicepk.
“In the interest of peace, we held a detailed jirga with the Taliban representatives present in Bajaur. Two key proposals and demands were presented,” he said. “First, we asked them to leave the area and go to Afghanistan, as their presence was causing hardship for the local population. Then, we requested that they refrain from using civilian-populated areas for warfare, which could be a positive step toward resolving the conflict through dialogue.”
According to Rashid, the Taliban representatives took the proposals seriously but asked for time until 12 PM the following day (Saturday). “We are hopeful for a positive outcome,” he said.
Additionally, the jirgah also met with military officials in a constructive environment and conveyed the need to resolve these issues through negotiations and tribal mechanisms—feedback to which the response was positive.