Dara Adam Khel becoming a safe haven for local Taliban

Dara Adamkhel in the Kohat district of Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), once famous for illegal arms manufacturing, is fast becoming a safe haven for Taliban activities that threaten to extend the Talibanisation to Peshawar and other cities.

Peshawar, Oct 31 : Dara Adamkhel in the Kohat district of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), once famous for illegal arms manufacturing, is fast becoming a safe haven for Taliban activities that threaten to extend the Talibanisation to Peshawar and other cities.

"Dara is boiling and the government is ignoring the gravity of the situation," officials said, as the area falls prey to militants.

They said that the inevitable "eruption" would have a direct affect on Peshawar and Kohat, two sensitive cities from a strategic point of view, whose importance is known to the Taliban.

"It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Taliban control Dara Bazaar and surrounding areas," said one tribal elder.

He said that the local Taliban were attempting to win the people's confidence by showing their "ability" to provide better law and order than the government.

The tribal elder said that the Taliban were banning music, shaving of beards and discouraging girls' education.

Recently, construction work on a government-funded college for girls, on which Rs 80 million had been spent, was stopped after militants warned the contractor that his life was at risk if he continued work.

He said that the Taliban also interfered in affairs of local tribes - settling their disputes and taking decisions on pending issues.

According to several analysts, Dara appears to be a strategic point for local Taliban because the area can be used to arm the militants and can serve as a launching pad for an assault on Peshawar.

The military has already intercepted two weapons consignments booked for Waziristan militants.

"It is not an exaggeration to say that the Tailban are slowly reaching for Peshawar and the day is near when the metropolis will have serious security problems," the Daily Times quoted a senior police official, as saying.

Meanwhile, 20 kilometres south of Peshawar cantonment, the Taliban have taken control of Mattni and told police that they "should not bother about security in the area, as the Taliban will make sure that the people's life and property is safe".

ANI