Tension between the Mehsud and Ahmedzai Wazir tribes is growing in South Waziristan after power supply to Wana was apparently disconnected by the Mehsuds, tribal sources said on Wednesday.“There has been no electricity in Wana and its surrounding areas for the last 15 days because the power line goes through the Mehsud areas and the Mehsuds have (allegedly) cut it off,” they told Daily Times.
Mistrust between the two groups has risen to such a level that the Ahmedzai Wazirs have stopped travelling through the Mehsud areas for fears of being captured or killed.
“We have finally convinced the military authorities to allow an alternative route for Wazir tribes, bypassing the route passing through the Mehsud areas,” the sources said via phone from Wana.
The alternative route is Gomal Zam Road, which the Wazirs were not allowed to use in the past, apparently at the insistence of Mehsud tribes.
As hostility between the government and Baitullah Mehsud continues to rise, the opening of Gomal Zam Road will give the Ahmedzai Wazirs freedom from the dominance of the Mehsuds, who share 75 percent of the resources being given to South Waziristan through development funds and other projects.
“No Wazir can take the risk of travelling through the Mehsud areas as tension between the two tribes is at an all-time high. The Wana-Tank highway [that passes through the Mehsud areas] is very unsafe for the Wazirs,” the sources said.
While the government forces are enforcing a complete economic blockade for Mehsud tribes in South Waziristan and also carrying out an operation against the tribe in Tank district, they are allowing the Ahmedzai Wazirs to transport truckloads of goods, wheat and flour destined for them [Wazirs] through the blockade.
Baitullah Mehsud was allegedly the prime suspect in two simultaneous attacks on peace committee offices – one each in Wana and Shakai Valley – in which nine supporters of Taliban leader Maulvi Nazir were gunned down on January 7.
An Ahmedzai Wazir jirga has raised a 600-strong lashkar (a tribal army) to protect what they call peace in the Wazir areas. According to a source, the government will bear all expenses of the lashkar.
Maulvi Nazir led a successful drive in April last year against foreign militants, especially the Uzbeks, who either took shelter in North Waziristan or in the Mehsud areas in South Waziristan.