Mohmand Agency

Mohmand مومند
—  Agency  —
District map of FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa- Districts of FATA are shown shown in blue, the Mohmand Agency is located in the north.
Country	Pakistan
Established	1951
Headquarters	Ghalanai
Government
- Political agent	Amjad Ali Khan
Population (1998)
- Total	334,453
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Main language(s)	Pashto, Urdu

The Mohmand Agency (Pashto: مومند ) is a district in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan created in 1951. Before that, the Mohmand Tribes were administered by the Deputy Commissioner based in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. However it was not until 1973 that the headquarters of the Mohmand agency were moved from Peshawar to Ekkagund. Now, the permanent agency headquarters is at Ghalanai, deep in the Mohmand agency. There is scant rainfall and little irrigated land, a factor responsible for the large demographic movements of the Mohmands to the fertile lands of Charsadda and Mardan districts to the east.

Amjad Ali Khan is the "political agent" of Mohmand Agency

Population

• According to the 1998 census the population was 334,453^[1] - with a population density of 171 persons per square kilometre

Location

Mohmand is bounded by Bajaur Agency to the north, Khyber Agency to the south, Malakand and Charsadda districts to the east and Peshawer district to the south east.

Total Population of Mohmand Agency is about 600,000.^{[citation needed]}

Tribes

The agency is inhabited by many tribes, mostly the Mohmands, the Clans, Baizai, Khwaizai, Halimzai, Tarak Zai, and Utman Khel. They all fought against the British and British called them as a Stone. The Safis, because of their association with the Mohmand, are also called Safi Mohmands but actually they are not Mohmand in Legacy. The tribe has been divided in upper Mohmand and lower Mohmand. The central bazaar of Mohmand is Ghalanai.. Mohmand Agency is divided into four Clans.

1. Tarakzai
2. Khwaizai
3. Baizai
4. Halimzai

Tarakzai

The Tarakzai are a Pashtun tribe concentrated in the lower Mohmand from Ekka Ghund to Michanai up to Daudzai. They are a well educated tribe settled at the gate of the Mohmand Agency. The sub-tribes of the Tarak Zai are Dado Khel, Qasim Khel, Bran Khel and Issa Khel.

Halimzai

The Halimzai are Pakhtun living in Gallanai, Gandhab,Mohmandara and in Halimzai village of Rudat district. An educated people, they depend on what little annual rainfall it receives, due to a scant water supply. Gandhab is divided into Upper and Lower Gandhab. Halimzai was the son of Mohmand from a British lady who was captured by Mohmand in a battle with British forces. Later he married her.

Total area

887 square miles (2,297 km²) which is mostly hilly and mountainous with little flat land. The reported area of agricultural land is 5,670 acres (2,296 hectares) out of which 48 acres (19.6 hectares) have been brought under cultivation. The irrigated area is 16 acres (6.6 hectares) and forests cover over 20 acres (8.0 hectares). Most of the agricultural land is rain fed, having insufficient rainfall; the agriculture product is very low, in lower Mohmand area of Michanai of Tarakzai near the Kabul river there are areas of good agriculture. The famous land lords are Malik Haji Dalel Khan Tarakzai and Major Haji Hajam Tarakzai.

Hospital

Unfortunately the money donated by international agencies for the uplift of poor tribal area goes into the private accounts of Political Agents who is a part of the corrupt system of government in tribal area. The one-story, 110-bed hospital in Ghalanai was nearly empty when a New York Times reporter visited in July 2007. According to the reporter, three beds were in use; transportation to the hospital was so difficult that only women who could walk there would show up; doctors quit because of low pay and lack of security; the hospital lacked equipment. Water was trucked in every other day. Women who come to the hospital are "very much anemic", without money, illiterate and ignorant about family planning. An $11 million project funded by the United States government and run by Save the Children trains Pakistani doctors to in turn train health care workers who will go into the field and train traditional health assistants on more modern health-care methods. For security reasons, the training is done in Peshawar, beyond the agency's borders. The program was expected to do some work in the hospital as well.^[2]

Place of interest

• Warsak dam is situated on the river Kabul about 32.2 km (20.0 mi) from Peshawar. The construction of the project was started in 1955 and the power station was commissioned in 1960. Before the commissioning of the Mangla Dam, it was one of the major sources of power.
• Munda dam is being constructed on Swat River to the east of the agency.
• Shabqadar fort at shabqadar bazar is an interesting place to see which is the Headquarter of FC forces now adays. The fort has a history of about 90 years.

War on Terror

Despite it's attraction to tourists, Mohmand Agency has been area of conflict between Pakistan Army and some militant groups. In a recent exchange of fire between the two, media reported that at least 18 militants were killed and 25 others were injured.^[3]

See also

• Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
• Mohmand

References

1. ^ Population (FATA, 1998) - fata.gov.pk
2. ^ "Aid to Pakistan in Tribal Areas Raises Concerns", New York Times. Perlez, Jane, July 16, 2007, accessed November 9, 2007
3. ^ http://www.thenewstribe.com/2011/04/14/forces-kill-18-militants-in-mohmand-agency/

External links

Coordinates: 34°30′N 71°20′E / 34.5°N 71.333°E / 34.5; 71.333