PESHAWAR: Protesters continued to stage demonstrations for the third day on Thursday in Kurram tribal region's Parachinar area demanding the release of 23 tribal leaders and the imam of a mosque who were detained by law enforcers three days ago, DawnNews reported.

The tribesmen protested over the arrest of tribal leaders and a cleric of a mosque who they said was also exiled forcefully.

"Political administration must be replaced," the protesters chanted.

Member of National Assembly (MNA) Sajid Hussain Toori from Kurram region's NA-37 constituency asked both the political administration and tribal leaders to exhibit some flexibility and suggested them to resolve the issue through a jirga.

Hussain has contested the elections in the constituency as an independent candidate.

The Toori Bangash Supreme Council claimed that firing on peaceful protesters on the behest of Political Agent Kurram tribal region, Riaz Masood was tragic.

The council also demanded Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Abbasi to take sou moto notice over the incident and also insisting on the lifting of an Army and FC curfew imposed in the area since the past three days. The council said that the curfew had paralysed life in the region.

Kurram agency, which is close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, is one of the seven regions in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), governed by tribal laws.

An extremist insurgency led by the Pakistani Taliban plagues the region while the area is known to be infested with militant and sectarian violence.