SWAT: The police have registered a case against some protesters who took part in a peace rally in the Khwazakhela area of ​​Swat.

Swat District Police Officer said that the first information report (FIR) was lodged as some people at the protest chanted slogans against state institutions including security forces.

“If anyone defames the institutions of the country, action will be taken against them,” Swat DPO Zahid Nawaz Marwat told Aaj News.

The police didn’t share details of the sections in the first information report (FIR), which was lodged on Saturday, a day after the protest in Swat. Sources said they include sections pertaining to treason while adding that the FIR has been sealed.

A large number of people had participated in the protest on Friday demanding an end to the presence of militants.

“The people of Swat came out in large numbers today to protest against Taliban and terrorism,” North Waziristan MNA Mohsin Dawad tweeted on the day of the protest.

Swat Loya Jirga

The elders of Swat will hold a ‘grand jirga’ to discuss the threats to peace in Swat at the Swat Press Club on August 17.

Political stakeholders, social figures, journalists, business people and lawyers have been invited to the Jirga in which important decisions are expected regarding the security situation in the area.

This comes in the backdrop of several incidents involving militants in the area, including the abduction of the deputy police superintendent of the Matta sub-district in Swat and an attack targeting a local lawmaker in which four people, incuding his teenage nephew, were killed. The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan later said that it was not responsible for the attack. There has also been an uptick in attack on military convoys in the tribal districts bordering Afghanistan.

At the same time, there have been reports by locals of spotting armed men in the mountains of and around Swat.

On Saturday, the media wing of the country’s armed forces said reports of the presence of militants in Swat were ‘exaggerated’’.

“During the past few days, a misperception about alleged presence of large number of proscribed organisation TTP’s armed members in Swat Valley has been created on social media. After confirmation on ground, these reports have been found as grossly exaggerated and misleading,” the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

It acknowledged the presence of a ’small number of armed men on few mountain tops between Swat and Dir, located far away from population“.

The ISPR said these individuals sneaked in from Afghanistan to resettle in their native areas. “A close watch is being maintained on their limited presence and movement in mountains. Required measures are in place by all LEAs for the safety and security of people of adjoining areas Presence of militants any where will not be tolerated and they will be dealt with full use of force if required,” the statement added.

TTP ceasefire

Pakistan has been holding talks with the banned TTP since December last year, with the two parties having agreed to an indefinite ceasefire in June this year. The two parties have been holding talks under the supervision of the Afghan Taliban, with at least one round of talks held in Khost.

The following is an outline of the demands of each party and the points on which issues consensus has been achieved.

TTP’s demands:

• Release all TTP prisoners held in Pakistani prisons or in custody of Pakistan forces.
• Army to exit the tribal districts formerly known as FATA
• Compensation for losses incurred by residents of the recently-merged tribal districts
• Removing TTP from the terrorism blacklist
• Ending restrictions on the movement of TTP members in the country
• Implementation of agreement between the tribes and the Quaid-e-Azam
• Setting up of political offices in other countries.
• Nizam-e-Adl regulation in Malakand

Pakistan government demands:

• TTP must swear allegiance to the Constitution
• Countrywide ceasefire
• TTP to stop working with other militant groups.
• TTP members to only keep licensed firearm in line with country’s laws. No one will be allowed to bear unlicensed firearms
• Dissolution of TTP’s organizational structure
• TTP members to lead lives like other ordinary citizens

Points on which consensus has been reached:

• The presence of FC [Frontier Corps] on the border will be 60% while the army presence will be reduced to 40%
• Frontier Corps to be deployed at all check posts
• Remaining contingent of Pak army to return to barracks
• Remaining forces of army to confine itself to its own existing cantonments. FC to occupy cantonments belonging to it.
• Army cannot establish new cantonments. This restriction isn’t applicable to the FC
• Three member mediation committee to be established to compile and catalogue this work
• Mediation committee to try to resolve contentious issues failing which it would be sent to the central leadership committee
• Fifteen-day deadline given for talks to reach their logical conclusion. The two parties have also agreed to a 15-day ceasefire. The duration of the talks and ceasefire to be revisited after the deadline lapses
• A period of three months agreed upon for the implementation of the agreement
• Action to be taken concurrently on all aspects of the agreement. As part of efforts to improve bilateral ties, some members of the TTP will return to Pakistan.