MIRANSHAH, June 8: After the authorities gave deadline to the local tribesmen to expel militants, Afghan refugees have started leaving for the war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Residents say the Afghans have started leaving for Afghanistan through the Ghulam Khan route for the last two days.
The local residents have also started moving to settled areas in view of possible military operation in the agency.
Two days ago a 60-member Jirga, led by Haji Sher Muhammad, the grandson of the freedom fighter Faqir of Ipi (late), met Governor Sardar Mehtab and Corps Commander Lt Gen Khalid Rabbani.
The governor and corps commander gave 15 days to the Jirga elders to expel foreign militants from North Waziristan, otherwise they said the government would have to conduct military operation in the area.
Faqir of Ipi: Mirza Ali Khan (1897 to 1960), known as the Faqir of Ipi, was a Pakhtun from North-Waziristan tribal region. The village of Ipi is located near Mirali Camp in North Waziristan Agency, Waziristan, from where the Faqir of Ipi started his guerrilla warfare against the British Empire throughout the 1930s and 1940s until the British departure in 1947.
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