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KARACHI: Thousands of people have left their homes in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal district as security forces prepare to launch an offensive against Pakistani Taliban fighters who are said to have crossed into the territory from Afghanistan in recent weeks, according to a local lawmaker, a tribal elder and an official.

The mass displacement follows the collapse of talks between a local jirga — or a council of elders — and the militants in the Mamund area, which borders Afghanistan. Authorities have set a Saturday deadline for evacuations before beginning what they call a “targeted operation,” according to Dr. Hamid Ur Rehman, a local lawmaker from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

“People have been given time until tomorrow to vacate their homes, after which security forces will start movement,” Rehman told Arab News over the phone after visiting a camp being set up for the internally displaced people (IDPs).

Rehman said the crisis began on July 29 after reports of the Taliban entering Mamund.

“Military action started along with the imposition of a night curfew [last month],” he said, adding that the development followed the jirga, which included representatives from all political parties, including himself, and tribal elders.

He said the jirga was convened to engage militants in the hope of “resolving the issue peacefully.”

However, he added that negotiations hit a wall when a senior Taliban leader told the jirga he lacked the authority to make any decisions.

“We have come for war,” Rehman quoted him as saying, “and we have been ordered to fight [by the group’s leadership].”

Rehman said the local government had not given formal permission for a full-scale operation, adding the provincial government’s stance was to oppose any action that harms civilians.

He said the military action following evacuation from the designated villages on Saturday will be a “targeted operation.”

NECESSARY ACTION

Malik Khalid Khan, a local elder, said the military told the jirga to either “deal with these people [the Taliban] or let the security forces handle the situation.”

“Since we couldn’t do it, the military action has become necessary,” he added.

Quoting military officials, Khan, who also participated in the jirga, said the number of militants in Mamund was between 400 and 500, adding that their presence had affected about 40,000 people from 20 villages who had to vacate their homes.

Deputy Commissioner of Bajaur, Shahid Ali Khan, confirmed the developments, saying the planned offensive had affected 80 percent of the population of Lowe Mamund tehsil and less than 30 percent of War Mamund tehsil.

“Of the total affected, almost 90 percent have been accommodated by host communities at their homes. Around 3,500 families are living in homes of host communities, 1,600 families have been housed in camps and over 400 families are in a sports complex,” he informed.

“The provincial government is providing a Rs75,000 [$265] financial package per family, with registration already underway and some families already having received the package in the form of an ATM card,” he added.

Khan said the military action would be swift and drive all Taliban militants out of the area.

“It will be a matter of days,” he said, adding that the IDPs will be sent back to their homes immediately after their areas are cleared.

However, local journalist Bilal Yasir said many residents are wary of such promises.

“Many of them believe previous operations were also ineffective,” he told Arab News, referring to a series of military campaigns in the northwestern tribal districts that uprooted residents while international forces were still in neighboring Afghanistan.

“They say they will once again be forced to live as IDPs for years,” he continued, “and nothing will be done for their rehabilitation.”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s competition appeals tribunal has upheld a ruling against 20 medical centers and laboratories that colluded to fix prices and allocate customers for mandatory pre-departure health tests of workers bound for Gulf countries, the competition regulator said on Friday.

The case involves a captive market of low-income Pakistani laborers headed mainly to ����ֱ��, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Under the rules, these workers must undergo tests at centers approved by the Gulf Approved Medical Centers Association (GAMCA), a network of clinics authorized by Gulf states to carry out the mandatory checks.

The regulator found the centers and their five regional associations divided customers on a rotational basis, eliminating competition on price and service quality, and in some cases charging for unnecessary repeat tests.

“The CCP’s investigation concluded that fee fixation, territorial division and equal allocation of customers by GAMCAs violated the Competition Act, 2010,” the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) said in a statement.

“Any anti-competitive conduct will be dealt with strictly under the competition law,” it quoted its chairman, Dr. Kabir Sidhu, as saying.

The competition appeals tribunal upheld the findings but reduced the penalties from 20 million rupees ($70,000) per medical center and 10 million rupees ($35,000) per GAMCA to 2 million rupees ($7,000) per center and 1 million rupees ($3,500) per GAMCA.

The CCP launched its inquiry after a 2012 complaint from the Pakistan Overseas Employment Promoters Association, which represents manpower exporters.

It ruled against the clinics later that year, though the verdict was not implemented because the medical centers and laboratories obtained stay orders.