The Pakistani government and the grand Mamond tribal jirga in the Bajaur Agency have reportedly agreed to a 28-point peace deal today aimed at securing the relative quiet of the past few days.
The agreement requires the tribes to submit to the government’s authority and requires tribesmen to restrict cross-border movement and to refuse to house foreigners. The tribes would also be forbidden from publishing “anti-government propaganda” and would give the military full freedom to go anywhere within the agency. They also restrict the establishment of new schools and would impose fines on whichever tribe a violating member belonged to.
It is in stark contrast to the agreement signed in neighboring Malakand, which led to the imposition of Islamic law in government courts and has given the area’s militant groups broad discretion in enforcing their own morality codes on the local population. The recent calm in Bajaur came in the wake of a unilateral ceasefire by the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). So far, the TTP has not commented on the peace deal.