Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday dismissed reports of a military operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tirah Valley, stating that no such operation had taken place in the area for several years and that recent displacement was a routine, seasonal movement linked to harsh winter conditions.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Ikhtiar Wali Khan, Asif said migration from Tirah and other border valleys occurred annually during winter snowfall. “This transition has been taking place for decades. It is being unnecessarily turned into a crisis,” he said.
The defence minister acknowledged the presence of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan members in the area, stating that around 400 to 500 militants, along with their families, were currently present in Tirah. However, he stressed that only intelligence-based operations were ongoing and that there was “no question” of a full-scale military operation.
Asif said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had allocated Rs4 billion to support families migrating from Tirah and that the relocation notification was issued following consultations between the provincial government and a local jirga. He added that the armed forces had no role in the displacement and that the process was voluntary.
The minister also claimed that illegal cannabis cultivation across approximately 12,000 acres was a major source of tension in the valley, alleging that profits from the crop benefited both militant groups and political interests. He said the government was willing to take journalists to Tirah to show the situation on the ground.
The press conference followed sharp differences between the federal and provincial governments over the evacuation of residents from Tirah. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, in a separate video statement, condemned what he described as a “planned military operation” and accused authorities of forcibly displacing residents during severe winter conditions.
Afridi warned that decisions taken without public consent had once again pushed the region towards instability and distrust. He questioned the logic of launching another operation, arguing that previous large-scale operations and thousands of intelligence-based actions had failed to eliminate terrorism.
Rejecting the federal government’s claims of voluntary migration, the chief minister announced a grand jirga to be held in Jamrud, where displaced residents would be asked whether they left their homes willingly or under coercion.
The Tirah situation has become a growing political flashpoint, with conflicting narratives from Islamabad and Peshawar over security policy, governance, and the handling of civilian displacement in the former tribal region.