Fact-check: No decision made to withdraw army from Lakki Marwat

Earlier this month, police units in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s district of Lakki Marwat took to the streets to protest the rising militancy in their district. One of the six demands of the protesters was that the Pakistan army withdraw from their district within six days, among other demands.

The four-day sit-in ended on September 12 after successful negotiations with the local administration.

However, on the day the protesters dispersed, social media was flooded with claims that the KP government had ordered the removal of the army from the district within 15 days, seemingly accepting one of the protesters' demands.

The claim is false.

Claim

On September 12, a user on X (formerly Twitter) posted a video claiming that the "negotiations" had been successful and that the army would leave Lakki Marwat in 15 days. The post has racked up 185,000 views and nearly 6,000 reposts to date.

Identical claims were also shared on Facebook here, here and here.

Fact

One of the six demands of the protesting cops was for the army to leave their district within six days. However, as of now, the KP government has not made any decision to withdraw the army from the district.

The other demands included better facilities for the police to carry out counter terrorism operations in the area, as well as health facilities for injured police officials.

Fahad Wazir, the deputy commissioner of Lakki Marwat district, told Geo Fact Check over the phone that the claims circulating on social media were inaccurate. While it’s true the protesters demanded the army’s withdrawal from the district, the provincial government has yet to make any decision on the matter.

“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will have to discuss the issue with the military to initiate a withdrawal process first,” Wazir explained. “But as of now, no decision has been made for the military to leave in 15 days or even in a month. Additionally, the military cannot leave the entire district anyway.”

Wazir did, however, mention that one proposal under consideration was to reduce the military’s operational area within Lakki Marwat.

Separately, the additional chief secretary of KP's home and tribal affairs department also confirmed that while the protesters did demand the army’s withdrawal, no commitment was made by the local administration.

“We only told the protesters that we would take this demand to the provincial government,” he said, requesting anonymity. “No decision has been made yet.”

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Cover image by Geo Television’s Adeel Marwat of the police officials protesting in Lakki Marwat.