KOHAT: Unavailability of the record of internally displaced persons has caused anomalies in the distribution of relief goods among displaced tribesmen in Kohat.

The relevant officials told Dawn on Saturday that no national or foreign agency dealing with the IDP issue knew about the exact number of families, which had fled their homes in Fata at the start of the Zarb-i-Azb military operation before coming to Kohat.

They said many Fata families living in the district for three decades had unlawfully benefited from the aid meant for those displaced from tribal areas due to the launch of Zarb-i-Azb.

Fata people living in Kohat for decades among beneficiaries

The officials said such families had got themselves registered as IDPs at the Bannu Road camp for relief goods.

They also said there existed no record of Darra Adamkhel tribesmen, who had crossed over to Kohat through the mountain despite a ban slapped on their movement by security agencies in 2007.

When contacted, social welfare officer in Kohat district Jaffar Khan said the provincial government had tasked his office with registering only the families, which used Kohat as transit district on their way to other parts of the country.

Officials at the disaster management unit and police said no IDPs camp had been established in Kohat and therefore, those displaced from troubled Fata areas lived in scattered places, including Bahadar Kot, Miangan Colony, Khwajabad Banda, Darraewal Banda, Orakzai Banda, Muhammadzai, Nasrat Khel, Old Tablighee Markaz, Jungle Khel, KDA and College Town. They said such tribesmen belonged to North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Kurram and Orakzai agencies, Darra Adamkhel tribal area, and Swat district.

The officials said thousands of displaced people had returned to their homes but still, around 800 families lived in Kohat in either rented or own houses.

Some officials insisted that the World Food Programme offered food packets carrying fiber enriched flour, pulses and cooking oil to all those visiting its distribution points without checking whether they’re displaced from Fata after the start of Zarb-i-Azb operation.

They said the ‘genuine’ IDPs had rented houses in the entire district from Hangu Road to Bannu Road to Rawalpindi Road to city areas but the WFP had established all food distribution points on Bannu Road to the misery of the most.

The officials said those living in far-away areas sought the help of relatives to get food packets and some remained without aid.There’re also complaints about smuggling of food packets meant for IDPs to Rawalpindi and Peshawar in trucks.

KILLED: Gunmen on Saturday killed a man hours after he shot his former wife dead in Garhi Dhodewal area here on Saturday. The local police said Sajid Hameed accompanied by brother Shahid Hameed killed his divorced wife, Sundela, when she was returning home from a school in Mohallah Niazi.

They said the attackers later traded fire with policeman Hamid Naeem but managed to escape.

The police said Sajid Hameed was killed by unidentified gunmen in the city hours after he shot his former wife down.

They said they had registered a case of the woman’s murder against his former husband and deceased Sajid Hameed and his brother Shahid. The police said another FIR had also been registered against unidentified gunmen for killing Sajid Hameed.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2015

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