LANDI KOTAL: Militants beheaded a tribesman in public after accusing him of spying for security forces in Mehraban Kalay area of Tirah valley in Khyber Agency on Friday.

According to sources, the beheading was carried out in a market and militants ordered local people not to remove the body till evening.

Mehraban Kalay and adjacent areas are under control of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (Tariq Afri­di group), but Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) also has some influence.

Also read: At least 20 suspected militants killed in Tirah

The two groups joined hands after LI chief Mangal Bagh invited all outlawed militant groups to come to Bara and fight against security forces after the Khyber-1 military operation was lau­nched against the LI on Oct 16.

Meanwhile, volunteers of the pro-government Tauheedul Islam group captured two sympathisers of LI and took them to an unspecified place. The two men have been identified as Niaz and Mehrab Gul.

In Bara, meanwhile, security forces and local political administration extended on Friday the deadline to Saturday noon for Sipah and Malikdin Khel tribes to vacate their homes. The deadline was extended after tribal elders sought more time to shift families to safe places.

In Kamar Khel area, security forces ordered residents to stay indoors at night and warned that anyone violating the order would be shot.

In a related development, the Fata Disaster Management Authority has said that 53,819 families comprising 364,960 people have so far moved out of Bara and Tirah valley. There are 213,195 children and 77,319 women among them.

The authority said on Friday that each family had been provided with one meal, free transportation and emergency health care. Children under the age of five have been vaccinated against polio.

Also on Friday, 39 militants belonging to LI, their two leaders Akbar and Javed among them, surrendered to security forces in Khyber Agency.

This is the largest group of LI militants to give up arms since the launching of an intelligence-based operation in the area.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2014