KURRAM: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday decided to evacuate four villages in Lower Kurram region to prevent loss of public life during search operation against miscreants as death toll from Monday’s attack reached nine.

A Parachinar-bound convoy of relief goods was attacked in Lower Kurram on Monday, martyring five personnel and injuring more than 20 people, including five personnel and five drivers.

Sources and administration in the area told Dawn that the convoy of trucks carrying food supplies and other goods to Parachinar was attacked in the Mandori, Ochat, Charkhel, and Bagan areas in Lower Kurram.

A driver and a soldier were martyred on the spot.

Meeting gives go-ahead for action against miscreants

Following the attack, helicopter gunships carried out shelling on suspected attackers’ positions on the hilltops.

In the meantime, Colonel Haider, commander of Kurram militia, was attacked with heavy weapons, which caused damage to three vehicles, but Colonel Haider remained safe. In total, four security personnel were martyred and five others, including a captain, suffered injuries.

The sources said that five security personnel were martyred and five were injured in the attack.

A driver, a passerby and two attackers were also killed, while more than 20 people, including five security personnel and five drivers, were injured.

According to the police, after looting goods from 19 trucks, the attackers set vehicles on fire. A total of 35 trucks were looted.

On Tuesday, a high-level meeting reviewed the situation arising after the attack on convoy and decided about strict action against culprits, according to an official statement.

It added that the meeting decided to evacuate four villages in Lower Kurram, including Ochat, Manduri, Dadkamar and Bagan, to prevent loss of public life and property during a search operation to be conducted against miscreants.

It also decided to put the names of those involved in anti-state activities in the district on Schedule IV of the Anti-Terrorism Act and announcing heavy head money for those involved in the violence.

Similarly, the provincial government decided to stop the payment of compensation to violence victims for the time being.

The meeting decided that the demolition of bunkers in Kurram would continue, while the tribal district would be cleansed from weapons.

It emphasised that the peace committees would have to fulfil their responsibilities.

MNA from Kurram Engineer Hamid Hussain regretted the repeated violations of the peace agreement and the government’s silence about it.

He urged the government to take immediate action against those responsible for violence, ensure protection of people’s lives and property, and opened all roads in the region.

During a news conference in Parachinar, peace jirga members Haji Nazir Ahmad, Haider Abbas and other leaders said that one of the two warring groups had violated peace agreement 18 times in the last two months, but no action had been taken by the government against it.

Meanwhile, the funeral prayers of four martyred security personnel were offered at the Thall Scouts headquarters.

Civil and military officials, including the commandants of Thall Scouts and Kurram Militia, participated in the funeral prayers.

The bodies were later sent to the native areas of the martyrs.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025