Thaindian News

Islamabad, Jan 12 (IANS) After decimating the Taliban in two areas of Pakistan’s restive northwest, the military now seems to be planning a third front against the militants in the area.
One indication of this is the roadblocks that have been erected at all entry and exit point of the Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghan border, Online news agency reported, quoting a private TV channel.

The security forces had gone into action against the Taliban in Swat and three other districts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in April and shifted their focus to FATA’s South Waziristan Agency in October. The military says that some 2,500 militants have been killed in the two operations.

The Orakzai Agency is from where 35 Sikh families who had been living in the area for decades were forced to migrate after the Taliban levied a jaziya or protection tax on them.

Media reports from the area had said Taliban militants had taken over the shops and homes of the 35 Sikh families and arrested community leaders Klank Singh and Sewa Singh in the Ferozkhel area of Lower Orakzai Agency.

Following this, a local jirga ruled that the Sikh community should annually pay Rs.15 million ($187,000) as protection money. Earlier reports had said the Taliban had demanded Rs.50 million but that this had been reduced.

When the Sikh community expressed their inability to pay, the Taliban then auctioned their houses and other belongings, forcing them to migrate from the area.