‘Unfulfilled pledges’: Janikhel protesters vow to exhume bodies of slain teenagers

BANNU: Irked by the unabated killings, the residents of Janikhel, who have been staging a sit-in against the killing of an elder, on Monday announced that they would exhume the bodies of the four slain teenagers, who were buried after the provincial government had signed an agreement with the protesters.

The protesters said that they would march towards Islamabad along with the bodies of the slain elder and the four teenagers, who were buried when Chief Minister Mahmood Khan signed a settlement with the residents of the Janikhel area, who had staged a sit-in after the killing of the four boys.

At the time, they were planning to march to Islamabad along with the bodies of the slain teenagers. It had prompted the provincial government to sign an agreement with them.

Under the agreement, it was agreed that the government would take steps to bring an end to the target killings in the Janikhel area in Bannu. However, the unabated killing spree prompted the Janikhel elders to continue the protest in a bid to exert pressure on the authorities to help stop the bloodshed.

Irked by the unabated killings, they have now announced to exhume the bodies of the slain teenagers and to march towards Islamabad.

One of the elders, Dr Gul Alam, said that the authorities had sent a jirga comprising the deputy commissioner and the district police officer, but the talks remained indecisive. The protesters said that they would march towards Kabul in Afghanistan if they were stopped from going towards Islamabad.