North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan has been the most turbulent region in Pakistan. With deteriorating situation after a series of attacks, the North Waziristan district administration has imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — the law regulating the maintenance of public order.
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According to the order, the district police officer of North Waziristan reported that due to the “current law and order situation, threats of militancy and other sabotage activities are expected in the district. Hence all protest rallies, public gatherings or assembling of more than five persons is prohibited.
In order to prevent any “untoward situation”, it was imperative to impose a complete ban on dharnas, protest rallies, jalsas and public gatherings of five or more people, the order stated, the district administration stated.
The imposition of Section 144 in North Waziristan comes in the wake of a series of attacks on security personnel in recent weeks that the military has blamed on terrorist elements. On Friday, four soldiers of the Pakista Army, including three officers were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in the region. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had noted at the time that “terrorist activities in North Waziristan have increased lately.”
Earlier, three people were killed and 15 ─ including five soldiers ─ were injured in an exchange of fire in North Waziristan’s Boyya area, when the Kharqamar check-post was attacked. A day after the clash, Section 144 was imposed in South Waziristan tribal district in view of public safety concerns and in order to maintain the law and order situation in the area.
