KHYBER: A majority of the internally displaced families from Tirah Valley here have expressed scepticism about their return that is expected to start on Oct 10.

Most IDPs told Dawn in Bara that the provincial government or the Khyber district administration had yet to issue a formal notification about their return, while no practical arrangements for any return plan had yet to be seen on ground.

“The Oct 10 return plan is a mere verbal announcement according to which 50 families would be sent back to their homes in Tirah Valley on a daily basis but we have yet to see the establishment of any registration centre or arrangements for transportation,” a displaced person said.

He said that with almost 27,000 families registered as displaced from different parts of Tirah until now, it would take around one and a half years to complete the return process as per the official plan of sending only 50 families on a daily basis from Oct 10 onwards.

Giving a breakdown of the tribes affected by the sudden evacuation in December 2025, Suhbat Khan, a spokesman for the Tehreek-i-Mutasreen Tirah (TMT), said 27,000 displaced families belonged to six major tribes of Tirah, with every major tribe divided into 30 sub-tribes each.

He said that most IDPs were still in a state of disbelief about the “verbal” return plan but if authorities actually executed it, only eight families from every major tribe would be entitled to go back every day with the subtribes left to scramble and quarrel about selecting the number of persons to be sent back.

“The return plan is confusing just like the IDPs’ hasty and forced evacuation during harsh winter last year, with the majority of the displaced families still awaiting compensation promised before their eviction from their houses in Tirah,” he said.

Gul Zarin, a resident of Bagh Maidan, who is currently staying with his extended family members in Bara, alleged that neither the provincial government nor the federal government was willing to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of Tirah IDPs who were still awaiting promised official assistance, both in cash and kind.

“We were deceived by all government departments when we arrived in Bara after the 110 kilometres long journey in snow and rain. A sizable number of children, women and elderly persons fell critically ill due to harsh weather, while authorities failed to honour their promise of helping them,” he said.

Mr Zarin flayed the provincial government over its “criminal silence” about the safe and honourable return of displaced families and said the district administration had abdicated their responsibilities in favour of a so-called 24-member committee of Tirah elders that had already lost the confidence of most IDPs as the committee failed to secure their legitimate official assistance during the last 10 months.

Haji Zareef, another resident of Tirah, said that they also reserved the right to demand compensation for their damaged homes, illegal occupation of their farmlands during their absence in the name of so-called development schemes in the valley and ruthless and excessive felling of natural forest worth millions of rupees during the last 10 months.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Sipah elders from Sanda Pal, Dray Naghari, Drowta and Khapur areas in Upper Bara area of Tirah valley have met the 27 Brigade commander in Tirah Maidan and discussed with him the much-awaited registration and return of over 400 families to their houses.

Dawn has learnt that the Sipah elders told the regional security official that families from those areas were asked to vacate their houses in November 2023 on the pretext of a limited, targeted military operation with an assurance from the security forces that the displaced families would be allowed to return in a maximum 15 days’ time.

The brigade commander was further told that while the displaced families still awaited their return despite a lapse of almost three years, none of those families were registered, denying any official assistance.

Members of the Sipah delegation said that while the security official assured them that they had no objection to the return of over 400 families to their homes, they should instead consult the district administration for possible assistance.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026