KURRAM / PESHAWAR: As the Kurram peace accord moves towards implementation, the district administration has started a survey in the Balish Khel and Khar Killay areas of Lower Kurram to demolish bunkers used in months-long violence that engulfed the tribal district.
The demolition drive was slated for Sunday as per a letter issued by Kurram District Commissioner Ashfaq Khan on Saturday, in which the administration had sought “staff along with necessary tools” to complete the process.
However, DC Ashfaq Khan told Dawn that the demolition process under the peace agreement would start today (Sunday) and efforts were underway to demolish all bunkers. According to the deputy commissioner, all bunkers will be demolished by Feb 1 under the peace agreement and the area will be de-weaponised.
The district administration said that apart from providing relief to the Bagan victims and opening the main highway, work was underway to implement the fourteen points of the peace agreement.
Locals continue to complain of dire shortage of essentials in Parachinar
Residents, however, complained that the closure of roads had caused a shortage of essentials, including medicines, in Parachinar. Civil Society General Secretary Haji Ali Jawad claimed that according to a survey conducted in Parachinar city and more than 100 adjoining rural areas, 288 patients, including 153 children, had died due to lack of treatment and facilities.
Addressing a press conference in Parachinar, trader leader Haji Jaffar Hussain said that trucks laden with their goods had been stranded in the queue for three weeks.
Last week, only a few trucks were brought in the convoy while 160 trucks were still waiting, he said, adding that fresh produce was getting spoilt due to the delay while the fare of the trucks had also increased manifold.
On the other hand, the sit-in at Mandori in Lower Kurram on the main highway continued on Sunday. The residents have been demanding support for the victims of the Bagan violence.
‘Peace agreement’
According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, the peace agreement will usher in a “new era of peace and development” in the district and security will soon be restored.
It may be noted that clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes claimed at least 130 lives since November 2024 while the road blockage caused a severe shortage of food and medicines in the Kurram district.
A peace agreement was signed on Jan 1 and the planned demolition of bunkers was part of that agreement. Both sides had also agreed that there would be a complete ban on the construction of bunkers in the area and the existing structures would be destroyed within a month.
Meanwhile, KP CM’s health aide Ihtisham Ali said that the demand for medicines significantly increased in Kurram due to extreme weather. He said that on Sunday, about 2,900kg of medicines were delivered to Sadda Hospital in Lower Kurram through two flights of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s MI-17 helicopter.
Umer Farooq in Peshawar also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2025
