KHAR/PESHAWAR: Fed up with the Taliban, being blamed for mass exodus from Bajaur Agency due to the military operation, the tribesmen of Salarzai tehsil in the agency Tuesday raised an anti-Taliban lashkar (armed force) that killed a militant.

The lashkar was raised after three notables including two tribal elders and a cleric belonging to Batmaley village of Salarzai Tehsil, were ambushed and killed by suspected Taliban fighters on Monday near Khar, the agency headquarters.

Reports suggested tribal elders Malik Bakhtawar Khan and Malik Shah Zarin and religious scholar Maulvi Sher Wali were ambushed on their way home after a meeting with government officials in Khar where they pledged to raise a lashkar and sought government assistance towards this end. The government officials and local tribesmen held the Taliban responsible for the killings.

Sources from Salarzai tehsil reported the lashkar, comprising 200-300 volunteers, announced to fight against militants soon after bodies of the three elders were brought to the village. They blamed local Taliban commander Maulvi Niamatullah for the killings and vowed revenge.

Later, the lashkar opened fire on a group of three militants travelling in a car near Batmaley and killed one of them. The other two militants, according to villagers, fled after being slightly injured. The name of the slain militant could not be ascertained but local villagers said he belonged to Mansehra.

The tribesmen’s revolt against Taliban fighters is the first of its kind in Bajaur Agency. Salarzai residents may give the Taliban a tough time if the government extended them support. After the killing of a militant by the lashkar, sources said, the Taliban fighters started checking every vehicle at their roadside checkpoints in a bid to capture the residents of Batmaley village.

Meanwhile, the security forces continued firing mortar and artillery shells at suspected militant hideouts in Mamond and Salarzai subdivisions. However, there were no details about casualties suffered by the Taliban. Tuesday was a relatively calm day in Bajaur, as gunship helicopters or jetfighters did not pound Taliban positions.

On the other hand, several displaced families were seen returning to their homes in Bajaur from the relief camps outside agency. Reports of unilateral ceasefire by the militants and their secret talks with the government are a ray of hope for the displaced families.