Since October 13, 171,559 people have moved from Khyber to Peshawar and Kohat. PHOTO: REUTERS

Dear Carol,

Just arrived from the border of Bara Tehsil, Khyber Agency. Artillery firing was on and within the span of five minutes we heard a big fire. Then its sounds echoed in from the mountain. It has really made the people tense and psychologically disturbed.

Met with a tribal chief, who told me that the firing is going on for last five days. And it hit the population because artillery shells have not an exact target. They go there dispersively. Some times hit houses, killing people.

I myself saw helicopters surrounding in the sky. The people of the area told me they haven’t slept because this heavy sound of shelling is not letting their eyes shut. People are terrorized by this operation.

The chief further stated that nobody is favoring us. People are forced to leave the area. But Taliban had already distributed pamphlets warning the people not to leave the area that easily. Just see how “sandwiched” are our people. Political agent says that he’s not having any authority in operation. While army uses the mighty policies and hears nobody.

The tribal chief told me, the army had invited us to form some kind of Amn Lashkars / the local militia that was formed in Swat. But he said, that they had clearly told the army officials “they [Taliban] were your product. Now without you nobody can erase them. We are never siding with you nor with Taliban”.

Regards,

Tribal Area Journalist

(Name withheld for fear of reprisals)

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.