DAKKA COLUMN.
52 bayonets, 1/17th Foot. 104 bayonets, 27th Punjab Native Infantry. 257 bayonets, 45th Sikhs.
The different Columns
Leaving Jamrud on the 24th January, the Jamrud Column marched by way of the Khyber Stream and the Chora Pass to Berar Kats, arriving there late on the following afternoon. There was some firing at the baggage escort en route and at the camp after dark, but it soon ceased.
The Ali Musjid Column started on the 25th, and, moving by Alachi, reached Karamna the same afternoon, being there joined by the 6th Native Infantry, which had marched thither from Lundi Kotal by way of the Bori Pass, the southern foot of which is in the north-west corner of the Karamna Valley. On this day the towers of the Karamna villages were destroyed, as were those of Barg, to which place the column marched on the 27th.
The Basawal Column reached China on the afternoon of the 25th January, and was here joined by the Dakka force, the united columns moving on to Kasaba and Sisobi on the 26th; the Sisobi Pass was occupied on the 27th, and made practicable. Here a junction was effected with the Jamrud force, and on the afternoon of this day all the columns were united in the Bazar Valley under Lieutenant-General Maude, who early that morning had secured possession of the China hill.
During all these movements the Zakha Khel had shown great hostility; the force had been fired on night and day from the moment of entry into the country, while the inhabitants had deserted their villages and had, in many instances, themselves set fire to them. In a reconnaissance on the 28th of the Bukar Pass leading to the Bara Valley a good deal of opposition was experienced, and in the destruction on the 29th of the towers of Halwai the enemy disclosed their presence in large numbers. It was now clear that any invasion of the Bara Valley would bring on an Afridi war, and it subsequently transpired that other tribes, as well as other clans of Afridis, were assembling to oppose our further advance—detachments from the Shinwaris and Orakzais, as well as from the Kuki Khel, Aka Khel, Kambar Khel, Malikdin Khel, and Sipah Afridis, gathering together and holding the passes over the Bara hills.
The responsibility of Lieutenant-General Maude as to further operations was not lightened by the receipt on the 29th January of a circular letter from Army Headquarters, reminding column commanders in Afghanistan that the operations then in progress were directed against the Amir and his troops alone, and that unnecessary collisions with the tribes were to be as far as possible avoided. Lieutenant-General Maude therefore telegraphed for more explicit instructions, especially as to whether he should force an entrance to the Bara Valley.
Close of the Operations
Before any reply could be expected, an urgent demand was received from the General Officer commanding First Division, Peshawar Valley Field Force, for the immediate return of his troops, in view of an expected attack upon Jalalabad and Dakka by Mohmands and Bajauris; but the awkwardness of such a request in the middle of operations was smoothed by the Afridis of the Bazar Valley now evincing a disposition to open negotiations, while a deputation from all divisions of the Bara Valley Zakha Khels actually arrived in camp. On the 2nd February the Political Officer reported that he had made satisfactory terms with the jirgah; and although the same evening General Maude was informed that the words of the circular above referred to did not preclude his carrying out an expedition into the Bara Valley should he consider such to be necessary, he decided that the whole force under his command should commence its withdrawal on the 3rd; and on that date accordingly the different columns left the Bazar Valley, the Dakka force by the Sisobi Pass and the troops of the Second Division via Chora for Jamrud and Ali Musjid. There was no molestation by the Afridis during the retirement of any of the columns, which, during the operations described, had sustained a loss of five killed and thirteen wounded.