Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan — The situation in Tirah Valley has highlighted major governance failures, with security officials blaming lack of basic services, weak administration, and insufficient policing for worsening instability, The Express Tribune reports.
Frontier Corps (FC) personnel say extremist and criminal groups, including Fitna-al-Khawarij, have exploited the governance vacuum, financing operations through drug trafficking and extortion. The Inspector General of Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa North noted the province’s 1,224-kilometre border with Afghanistan, about 717 kilometres of which fall under FC responsibility. He described a forbidding terrain of snowbound mountains, high peaks and narrow passes that complicates border control.
Referring to security tolls, the IG recalled last year’s Bagh Maidan incident in which 64 FC members were killed and 198 wounded, saying no other force suffered comparable casualties in the area. He said places such as Duatoi have chokepoints where legal constraints prevent effective checks. He also pointed out an acute shortage of law enforcement, with only three police officers assigned to the local population in some sectors.
Wing Commander Colonel Waqas highlighted the near-total absence of civil administration: there is no district administration, minimal police presence and no hospital for up to 60 kilometres in parts of Tirah Valley. He added that government schools and appointed teachers are lacking, depriving children of education.
Officials further described drug trafficking as a major problem, accusing Fitna-al-Khawarij of involvement and saying narcotics and extortion revenues are used against security forces and civilians. They warned that continuing mismanagement and the collapse of local governance are allowing militant and criminal groups to deepen theirhold on the area, exacerbating both security and humanitarian crises for residents.
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