1937, the British sent over 40,000 British-Indian troops, mostly Sikhs from the Punjab, to defeat Ipi's guerillas. This was in response to an ambush by Pashtun Waziristani tribesmen in which they had killed over 50 British Indian soldiers. However, the operation failed and by December,the troops were sent back to their cantonments. In 1939, the British Indian government claimed that the war capacity of the Faqir of Ipi's forces was enhanced by support from Nazi Germany and Italy, alleging that the Italian diplomat Pietro Quaroni drove the Italian policy for involvement in Waziristan, although the British were unable find any concerte evidence for Quaroni's involvement. The British eventually suppressed the agitation by imposing fines and by demolishing the houses of their leaders, including that of the Faqir of Ipi. However, the pyrrhic nature of their victory and the subsequent withdrawal of the troops was credited by the Pashtuns (Wazir tribe) to be a manifestation of the Faqir of Ipi's miraculous powers. He succeeded in inducing a semblance of tribal unity (something which was noted by the British Indian government) among various sections of Pashtuns including the Khattaks, Wazirs, Dawar, Mahsuds and Bettanis. He cemented his position as religious leader by declaring a Jihad against the British. This move also helped rally support from Pashtun tribesman across the border. In 1946, the British again attempted to decisively defeat Ipi's movement. but this effort was unsuccessful. Jirga in Bannu On 21 June 1947, the Faqir of Ipi, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and other Khudai Khidmatgars held a jirga in Bannu during which they declared the Bannu Resolution, demanding that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan composing all Pashtun majority territories of British India, instead of being made to join the new dominions of India or Pakistan. However, the British government refused to comply with the demand of the Bannu Resolution and only the options for Pakistan and India were given. In response, the Faqir of Ipi and the Khudai Khidmatgars boycotted the 1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum on joining India or Pakistan, citing that it did not have the options for the province to become Pashtunistan or join Afghanistan. Pashtunistan movement the Faqir of Ipi rejected the creation of Pakistan after the partition of India, considering Pakistan to only have come into existence at the insistence of the British. In 1948, the Faqir of Ipi took