The Mehsud tribe in the troubled South Waziristan Agency announced on Monday the collapse of their pact with the government, saying they would not support the government or be responsible for militant activities in the agency till the government released seven local Taliban.The announcement was made by representatives of the Mehsud tribe at a jirga here. Besides tribal elders and religious scholars, a large number of tribesmen participated in the jirga. The jirga also announced a boycott of the election in the agency and a ban on attending the political administrationÂ’s offices till the acceptance of their demands. Ex-member of the National Assembly Maulana Mirajuddin and other elders including Maulana Asam, Malik Masood Ahmad, Malik Saifur Rehman, Malik Haider Khan and Malik Dilber Khan addressed the jirga participants.
They called upon the government to release the seven arrested men immediately, as it had promised to release them in exchange for the release of more than 200 security personnel taken hostage by the Taliban on August 30 and freed on November 4, a day after the enforcement of emergency rule. A senior jirga member told Daily Times that the government had released 25 local Taliban of the total 32, which they called a violation of the cooperation pact between the government and Mehsud tribes.