No military operation in Tirah Valley: Khawaja Asif

ISLAMABAD, Jan 27 (APP): Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday categorically stated that no military operation was being carried out in Tirah Valley, terming the migration of people a routine and seasonal process due to harsh weather and snowfall.
Addressing a press conference along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar and Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Information Ikhtiar Wali Khan, the defence minister said, “There has been no operation in Tirah Valley for many years. These are all assumptions.”
He said that it was strategically decided that intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were more effective than large-scale operations, adding that the armed forces had stopped such operations years ago in favour of IBOs.
Khawaja Asif said that IBOs would continue to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country’s soil. He said that every year around 60 to 65 percent of the population migrates to other areas due to severe weather conditions and heavy snowfall, a practice that has continued for decades and even over the past century.
The minister clarified that the armed forces deployed in the area had no role in the displacement. “This is an arrangement between the local jirga and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government,” he said.
He said that the KP government had approved a relief package of Rs4 billion for the people of Tirah Valley who migrate seasonally.
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