Eidak—North Waziristan’s Lasting Vigil
A Love Letter to a Village that Refuses to Fall
Faryal Khan & Zahid Noor Jan (Zahid Dawar)
We are writing this not only because we both love Eidak (also spelled Idak), but because it continues to unsettle the way North Waziristan is usually described (Tohid, 2014). For many, the region’s story begins and ends with militancy, military operations and displacement (Makki, Khan & Akash, 2021; Shakirullah et al., 2020). The village of Eidak, however—with its refusal to be overrun, its long memory of self-reliance and its layered experiments in civic life—does not fit that script. Our account brings together long-term field research conducted in the region since 2019 and the lived experience of one of us as a lifelong resident of Eidak. We have seen and heard enough to know that in the midst of violence and uncertainty, hope here is neither sentimental nor naïve; it is strategic, built choice by choice, decade after decade. And, so, we share the story of Eidak—more accurately, of its people—to present an anomaly: an island of relative peace in the midst of war and chaos in North Waziristan, Pakistan.
Eidak is a small village on the outskirts of the city Mir Ali in North Waziristan—one of the merged border districts along the Pakistan–Afghanistan frontier (Pakistan Almanac, n.d.). Home entirely to the Dawar tribe (also spelled Daur) (for more details on the tribe, see History of Pashtuns, 2019), it centres around the bustling Eidak Bazaar (market), alive with locals from morning till evening. Beyond the marketplace, orchards and fields lie framed by dry hills. Its land yields wheat, rice and maize, sustaining a rhythm of life that endures despite the turbulence around it.
Written records of Eidak’s history go back more than a century, owing largely to its strategic location for the British colonisers in the early twentieth century. In 1905, the British built a fort here as part of their frontier defences, following the establishment of a military post during the Tochi Expedition of 1896 (Cheema, 2018; Mondal, 2024). It was in Eidak, too, that the Tochi Levies were raised in 1895 after the Durand Line agreement and the demarcation of the Tochi Valley. Additionally, the North Waziristan Militia was first raised here in June 1900, before being moved to Miranshah in October 1904 (for details, see Kemball, 1900). According to local accounts, the Eidak Fort remained in use until as late as 2011, housing khasadars (tribal police) despite militant activity in the area, but it was eventually demolished during Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014. In its place, the ‘Mir Ali Market Complex’ was erected, but the project faltered due to low business activity and unresolved compensation issues. Recently, the Pakistan Army reconstructed the fort to serve once again as a stronghold for monitoring militants in and around Mir Ali. The fort stands as a reminder that this village has long been a place that others have sought to control.
Written records of Eidak’s history go back more than a century, owing largely to its strategic location for the British colonisers in the early twentieth century. In 1905, the British built a fort here as part of their frontier defences, following the establishment of a military post during the Tochi Expedition of 1896 (Cheema, 2018; Mondal, 2024). It was in Eidak, too, that the Tochi Levies were raised in 1895 after the Durand Line agreement and the demarcation of the Tochi Valley. Additionally, the North Waziristan Militia was first raised here in June 1900, before being moved to Miranshah in October 1904 (for details, see Kemball, 1900). According to local accounts, the Eidak Fort remained in use until as late as 2011, housing khasadars (tribal police) despite militant activity in the area, but it was eventually demolished during Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014. In its place, the ‘Mir Ali Market Complex’ was erected, but the project faltered due to low business activity and unresolved compensation issues. Recently, the Pakistan Army reconstructed the fort to serve once again as a stronghold for monitoring militants in and around Mir Ali. The fort stands as a reminder that this village has long been a place that others have sought to control.
In recent years, emerging literature from North Waziristan has begun to chronicle the history of the region and its people through the lens of local voices which moves beyond oral traditions to document key historical landmarks. Among these, the hilltop of Satr Ghundai in Eidak occupies a particularly prominent place. Perched above the Tochi Valley, the hillock offers a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. Historically, it is believed to have served as the capital of the ancient Dawar-inhabited polity once known as ‘Tochi State’, and remnants of walls and fortifications attributed to that era can still be found. The site also holds political and cultural significance as the ground where tribal lashkars (militias) were mobilised and important jirgas convened. Some literary accounts even suggest that Satr Ghundai was the birthplace of the Faqir of Ipi movement, with its first jirga reportedly held here in 1936, followed by a second gathering in Tappi where Mirza Ali Khan (Faqir of Ipi) was formally chosen as leader (Dawar, 2024).
Yet, the greatest reverence associated with Satr Ghundai derives from local lore linking it to Bayazid Ansari—better known as Pir Roshan (see Hunarmal, 2022)—the sixteenth-century Pashto poet, Sufi thinker and warrior who founded the Roshnai movement and is credited with systematising the Pashto alphabet. While Dawar (2024) acknowledges that other regions, including Peshawar and Tirah, also claim to house his grave, oral traditions in Eidak strongly uphold the belief that Satr Ghundai is his final resting place.
Another significant landmark is the Eidak Nizamia, one of the oldest Islamic institutions in North Waziristan and a long-standing religious and communal hub that underscores Eidak’s central role in the area’s social life. According to oral traditions in Eidak, its roots go back to 1936, when local elders, inspired by the freedom movement, felt the need for a madrasa (a place of learning) to serve the region. By 1939, its teaching activities had begun, drawing students from across Waziristan even before Pakistan’s creation. According to Hyder Dawar’s book, over the years, it moved several times—from Joi Khel to Khaddi in 1960—before a decision was made at a major conference of scholars in Mir Ali in 1980 to build a permanent, modern campus in Eidak. After a two-year delay, the foundation stone was laid in 1982 along the village’s main road (Dawar, 2024, p. 329).
Established with funding from Saudi Arabia and sustained by contributions from Eidak and neighbouring villages, the Nizamia has long relied on customary donations: a share of the annual crop yield and the hides of animals sacrificed during Eid-ul-Adha. The Dawar tribe, both Upper and Lower, played a central role in its creation and upkeep. In its early years, it was guided by scholars such as Maulana Darad, Maulana Abdul Ali, and early administrators, including Maulana Qazi Habib-ur-Rehman. The madrasa now spans 160 kanals (around 20 acres), including land donated by villagers, and ranks fifth in educational standards in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Beyond its physical presence, the Nizamia has hosted jirgas (tribal councils), political meetings and, in recent years, moments of friction over the future of education. It played a notable role during the Soviet–Afghan War as a strategic outpost, and later in the US-led ‘War of Terror.’ Within its walls are complex histories of how this region has been treated over the decades, making it an important site of study for anyone seeking to understand the intersection of faith, politics and resilience in Waziristan.
While Eidak’s history and monuments are significant, it is the people who lie at the heart of its mystique. The village’s population has always been careful about who it allows in, a guardedness that became crucial in 2007, when much of Mir Ali was coming under the influence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and foreign fighters (Javaid, 2014). After a firefight between militants and security forces came dangerously close, Eidak’s elders formed the Aman Lashkar (peace militia): A volunteer force that stationed young men on mountaintops and along roads to keep militants out. They refused shelter not only to fighters but even to Afghan refugees, fearing any potential instability. The Lashkar was neither pro-army nor anti-Taliban by ideology; its mandate was singular and unwavering: to protect Eidak.
This was what made Eidak unique: It was the only place in North Waziristan to form and sustain an Aman Lashkar. Nowhere else in the district was able to mount such resistance, and in South Waziristan the state’s own Aman Lashkar experiments became mired in politics and failed outright (Wazir et al., 2023). That same vigilance meant that when the army launched Operation Zarb-e-Azb in June 2014 to clear militant groups from the region, Eidak was initially allowed to remain. Trucks of food and water arrived, and there were promises of helicopter evacuations for medical emergencies. But within weeks, phone lines were cut, electricity went dead and the bombing began. On 13 August 2014, a convoy of 200 vehicles arrived to move the population to the barren plain of Pir Kali (Express Tribune, 2014a). Conditions were so harsh that in the first two days, residents killed dozens of cobras and scorpions. Food, water and medicines were scarce, and elders threatened to return home if nothing changed. By September, many families had left Pir Kali for Bannu unable to endure the neglect, while search operations were carried out in their empty homes (Express Tribune, 2014b).
When the army began allowing returns as early as 2015, Eidak was among the first to come back. Reconstruction moved quickly: Elders oversaw the building of a new bazaar along two intersecting roads, with the rule that no shop could be rented to outsiders (Siddique & Wazir, 2016). But it was not only the elders who set about rebuilding—a wave of youth activism was already emerging. Before the operation, a group of locals had formed the Waziristan Roshni Welfare Society (WRWS), holding free tuition camps under trees when formal schooling was suspended. After displacement, they moved into a government school building, expanding their activities to art competitions, cleanliness drives and awareness walks. The WRWS began its work in 2015, soon after the tribe returned to Eidak and recognised the toll that years without education had taken on the younger generation. It was formally registered in 2016.
Inspired by the work of WRWS, other initiatives emerged in 2019 and 2020: Eidak Biedar Zwanan (EBZ) literally meaning ‘Aware Youth of Eidak’, with a focus on education, culture and tourism, Eidak Welfare Foundation focused on reducing poverty and the Waziristan Public Library (WPL), one of the first and few dedicated libraries in the entire region.
These groups mobilised youth for seminars, announced university admissions, celebrated local poets and even staged a protest blocking the Bannu–Miranshah road to demand Internet access for students (Dawar, 2020). Peace had become palpable in the conflict-affected Waziristan in those years.
Yet, local politics and insecurity took their toll. EBZ faced smear campaigns labelling its leaders ‘Afghan’ and met with suspicion from elders and the army. The WPL, after losing its original space in the Nizamia due to political disagreements, had to navigate jirgas, nanawate rituals and even buy land to survive. Both EBZ and WPL eventually had to suspend their activities due to rising militancy and threats, yet their impact endures, remembered as part of a period when Eidak’s youth openly claimed space for education and civic engagement.
Eidak has not been immune to renewed violence. Attacks on police checkpoints and military convoys in recent years have shown that the threats are ongoing. In response, the current ‘resistance’ force (Samaa Digital, 2024), known as ‘Eidak Security’, remains active (War_Analysts, 2025), even maintaining a presence on Facebook to signal vigilance and unity. It is a continuation, in a different form, of the protective impulse that began with the Aman Lashkar.
If one walks through the Eidak bazaar, children can be seen weaving between shops, their laughter carrying over the calls of vendors. A short distance away stands the Nizamia, long a place of authority, community, and at times, contention. Nearby, the library quietly reflects the long chain of efforts that brought it into being. Together, these places—and the people who sustain them—offer a story of Waziristan rarely told.
Eidak’s history is one of refusal—refusing to host militants, to surrender its commitment to education, to let displacement become permanent, or to allow others to define its future. This narrative is not meant to romanticise the village or overlook the profound toll militancy has taken. We also recognise the presence of local vices, including the narcotics trade. Yet what stands out is how all actors—militants, Taliban and the state—have, at various times, turned to Eidak to influence outcomes. In the chronicles of North Waziristan, where most villages are reduced to ruins and casualty counts, Eidak endures as a living argument that even the smallest communities can hold their ground—and, in doing so, shape their own destiny.
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