Local market in Pakistan’s tribal region of South Waziristan dynamited as punishment for blast

Rustam Bazaar in South Waziristan’s headquarters Wana was demolished under local laws, political agent Zafarul Islam Khattak said.

The action was taken on Friday under the collective and territorial responsibility clauses of the Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR), he said.

The FCR was devised by the British colonists, building upon already existing local laws and traditions, as an instrument of subjugating and disciplining the local Pakhtoon population.

A senior military official Major Imran was killed and 10 others injured in an explosion in the market during a search operation on Tuesday.

Following the incident, the local authorities had imposed a curfew on the Wana Bazaar, forcing more than 6,000 shops to close down.

The market owner, Ali Wazir has condemned the demolition of the market, saying blasts occur everywhere in Pakistan but there community was specifically targeted using a law devised during the colonial times.