ISLAMABAD: Surging terror and extortions have endangered public security in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the place militants in a number of districts run a parallel shadow administration.
The southern districts of the province have virtually turn out to be no-go areas even for law-enforcers. Within the night, militants are seen patrolling streets and establishing checkpoints in Bannu, North and South Waziristan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, and Dera Ismail Khan.
Whereas these districts stay at mercy of militants from night to morning, well-off individuals in different districts of the province continuously obtain threatening WhatsApp texts and letters from Pakistani Taliban – or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – with calls for to pay or face assaults. Those who refuse to pay ransom are sometimes focused with grenade assaults at their properties, retailers and warehouses, apparently to indicate the group was severe about its threats.
Faisal Khan, a lawyer in in Charsadda district, advised TOI that he had obtained a threatening WhatsApp textual content earlier this month from an Afghanistan quantity with a requirement to pay $50,000 (Pak Rs 1.4cr). Khan reported the threats to the police and in addition went to high-ranking officers to request safety and help. He claimed he was cautioned by “allies within the govt” that he “mustn’t depend” on them to maintain him protected.
Shahzaib, one other particular person in the identical neighbourhood who had obtained the same textual content on TTP’s letterhead final month, has paid after negotiating a deal by intermediaries. He finally paid a decreased a part of the $50,000 the militants initially demanded. “TTP is demanding extortion from everybody they suppose pays. Most, if not all, rich people have already paid.”
Police sources mentioned the primary hurdle is monitoring down extortionists. Within the final two years, at the very least 1,600 Afghan cellphone numbers and 387 unlawful gateways have been used for the extortion calls. “Regardless of the rising risk, the difficulty has but to draw nationwide consideration,” a senior police official mentioned.
