Khyber Agency

Khyber Agency
خېبر
Agency
Country Pakistan
Established 1873
Headquarters Landi Kotal
Government
 • Political agent Capt (R) Khalid Mehmood
Area[1]:1
 • Total 2,576 km2 (995 sq mi)
Population (1998)
 • Total 546,730
 • Density 210/km2 (550/sq mi)
Time zone PST (UTC+5)
Main language(s) Pashto (99.6%)[1]:24
Website fata.gov.pk

Khyber (Pashto: خېبر قبايلي سيمه‎; Urdu: خیبر ایجنسی‎) is a tribal area in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas region of Pakistan. It is one of the eight tribal areas, better known as agencies in Pakistan. It ranges from the Tirah valley down to Peshawar. It borders Nangarhar Province to the west, Orakzai Agency to the south, Kurram Agency to south west and Peshawar to the east.

Khyber Pass

Portions of Khyber Agency are verdant.

Khyber Pass is a major feature of the Khyber Agency. Its narrowest point is Ali Masjid, where the Battle of Ali Masjidoccurred. The village of Ayub Kaley is located on the pass. The para-military organization the Khyber Rifles originated in the area and took their name from it. A Khyber Pass Copy is a homemade firearm characteristic of the Khyber area.

Railways

Both the Khyber Mail Train and the Khyber Train Safari routes passed through the Khyber Agency via the Khyber Pass.

Education

Khyber Agency is the most literate of all the Tribal Areas, with a literacy rate of 34.2%, as of 2007. Quite far ahead of the next highest Agency - Kurram at 26.5%. It is also the only Agency where the majority of its men are literate, at 57.2%, which is almost 20% ahead of the next highest agency, Kurram. However, its Female literacy rate of 10.1% is 2nd after Kurram's 14.4%.[2]

Agency Literacy rate 2007[2]
Male Female Total
Khyber 57.2% 10.1% 34.2%

Demographics

The majority of the tribes in Khyber Agency are Afridis. However, there are important pockets of Mullagoris, Shilmanis, Bangashs and Shinwaries.[3]

Insurgency

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Islam and Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi militants began entering Khyber Agency after the US-led NATO Invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Due to absence of a strong government and security network in the area and its rough, mountainous terrain, the area became a hotbed of the insurgents and over 90 percent of the agency came under their control in 2007. After 2007, the militants began attacking government and military establishments in KPK province killing many people and wounding many more. The Pakistan Army began an operation in 2008 to clear the agency of militants and restore normal life in the area. The Operation continued for years and resulted in killing of hundreds of TTP militants and Pakistan Army soldiers. The Local Aman Lashkars or Peace committees supported the army by fighting the foreign terrorists. By July 2012, a major part of the agency was cleared but military operation continued in Bara Tehsil of the agency. The Operation also Produced a large number of internally displaced people. [4] In October 2014, Pakistan Armed Forces launched a military offensive in Khyber Agency code-named Operation Khyber-1.

Sports

Shahid Afridi in the field during a cricket match.

People belonging to this area are filled with the cricket spirit, though often lose to superior teams. Famous Pakistani Cricketers Umer Gul Ahmed Shehzad also belongs to this area.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 1998 Census report of Khyber Agency. Census publication. 138. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
  2. 1 2 3 4 http://fata.gov.pk/files/MICS.pdf
  3. ↑ Khyber Agency
  4. ↑ Dawn. "South Waziristan operation: Only Sararogha cleared in three years".
  5. ↑ Shahid Afridi | Pakistan Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials. ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
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