Six militant outfits appear to be operating in Darra Adam Khel, with two having extended their sway to within 20 kilometres of Peshawar, officials and residents fleeing the area said on Monday.Darra Adam Khel, 40 kilometres south of Peshawar, is well known for illegal arms dealing. Harkatul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiaba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the ‘Muslim United Army International’ and the local Taliban have been “active in the area since mid-2005,” said a former Darra resident, who used to live near a militant stronghold in Mazeedkhel.
Eight camps: Asking not to be named for fear of reprisal, the Mazeedkhel resident told Daily Times that the militants had set up around eight training camps in different parts of Darra Adam Khel, adding that foreign militants were imparting training to members of local Taliban there. “In these training camps, basic military training is imparted, and they send potential suicide bombers to South Waziristan for a further four-months of training,” said the resident who travelled to Peshawar to flee the military operation targeting militants.