• Gandapur claims foreign powers supplying weapons to fuel sectarianism
• Says Rs2bn to be spent on surveillance, security infrastructure to secure Peshawar-Kurram route

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Wednesday claimed the months-long conflict in Kurram tribal district did not have anything to do with a land dispute, but was fomented by hostile powers who were supplying weapons and explosives to fuel sectarianism.

The chief minister made these remarks while talking to media persons in Peshawar. CM Gandapur said the sectarian elements involved in the conflict were being sponsored by foreign countries, which were investing in this conflict so that it could be spread to the rest of the country. He said it was not just a land dispute and one should not remain in denial about it.

“Land disputes occur in many places but does the entire region become involved in it?” the CM said, adding that some people or even a tribe could be involved in it, but sectarianism was being fuelled by foreign powers by supplying weapons.

The chief minister said that the government was working to contain the violence in the restive district, and recently it approved Rs2 billion for the installation of CCTV cameras and security pickets on the road to secure the region. CM Gandapur said that the provincial government also announced head money against elements involved in the unrest, adding that the government would bring the culprits to justice.

“We have a clear message that anyone involved in militant activities will not be spared. They might escape today or tomorrow, but they will be eventually brought to justice — they will be punished severely,” CM Gandapur said.

It may be mentioned that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government said on Feb 17 that over 150 bunkers had been demolished in Kurram since the process began last month with a deadline set for the demolition to be completed by March 23. The KP cabinet was briefed that since October last year, 189 people had died in various clashes, and a peace agreement was signed as a result of the government’s efforts to bring the situation under control. A total of nine convoys comprising 718 vehicles carrying essential goods have been sent to the area, the cabinet was told.

Similarly, the Tall-Parachinar Road, the only route connecting Peshawar and Kurram, has remained closed to traffic for almost four months after armed clashes broke out between two groups last year, claiming over 140 lives, including women and children.

The clashes erupted when a convoy of 200 vehicles came under attack in the Bagan area of the district on November 22. A day later, over 500 shops and a similar number of houses were torched in Bagan to avenge the convoy attack.

On November 24, the government intervened and announced a ceasefire, which was later extended for seven days by the district administration. The situation, however, remained volatile.

On January 1, an agreement was signed between the warring groups following a jirga, comprising elders from both groups. Four days after the ‘fragile’ agreement, an attack on January 4 left the deputy commissioner and his guards injured. Almost two weeks later, another attack on a convoy of supplies on January 17, claimed the lives of five security personnel upon which the KP government announced another operation against militants in the district.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2025