Tribes fined Rs 5.4m for attacks on army

South Waziristan Agency’s political administration on Monday fined the Ahmedzai tribe Rs 5.4 million under the law of “collective responsibility” for letting their land be used for attacks and ambushes against the army and paramilitary forces hunting Al Qaeda suspects near the Afghan border. “A weeks time has been given to the tribe to pay the fine, otherwise the administration will proceed according to set procedures,” a tribal elder and senior administration official told Daily Times by phone from Wana, South Waziristan Agency. The Ashrafkhel Wazir sub-tribe was to pay Rs 1.2 million while the Malikkhel sub-tribe was to pay Rs 200,000 for not handing over one of the three most wanted men – Mullah Abbas – to the administration for harbouring terrorists. The rest (Rs 4 million) would be collected from the Ahmedzai tribe alone. But Malik Behram Khan, an Ahmedzai elder, told Daily Times that his tribe had refused to pay the Rs 4 million fine. “Under tribal traditions, if a criminal is unidentified then the whole tribe can be punished, but we and the administration know all who have attacked the army,” he added. Full Story