An exemplary peace has been restored in the once volatile South Waziristan Agency (SWA) after successive military offensives; however, the rising blasts of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have become a new challenge for the war-weary tribesmen, as so far 70 people have been affected by these blasts within few months after repatriation.
Pakistan has been battling an insurgency since 2004, following the United States-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militants across the border.
However, in the wake of military operations, a considerable improvement has been witnessed in the security situation in the restive area, once known home to militants; resultantly hundreds and thousands of displaced tribal people living a life as IDPs in various parts of the country for almost a decade, were asked to return to their home town.
Though the area has been cleansed of militants to a great extent, ironically no attention has been paid to the IEDs, planted widely in the war-ravaged area, which has become more sophisticated and more deadly over the past two decades.
Owing to the rising incidents of IEDs blasts, several people have lost their live and dozens of others sustained injuries of which majority are children mainly in Mehsud inhabited areas.
Source: Pakistan Today
