KOHAT The army opened fire in 'self-defence' on thousands of angry protesters, who marched into Hangu from Kohat on Friday evening and surrounding areas to take out Ashura procession by force amid curfew in the city.

The DCO, DPO, army officials and elders of the Shia community had to take shelter inside the Orakzai Agency headquarters on the Kohat-Parachinar Highway after the clash.

The Shia elders had been called to ask the protesters to return back and do not enter the Hangu bazaar, but nobody was ready to listen to them. They were inside the headquarters till late night.

Although casualties were feared but officials and medical teams from hospital could not reach the spot, fearing attack by the 15,000 angry armed men.

The army fired with automatic weapons and mortars on the protesters near the Orakzai Agency headquarters in Babar Mela when they tried to enter the Hangu city.

Thousands of protesters, who had been staging a sit-in since Thursday noon in Kohat, marched towards Hangu from Kohat to force the government to relax the curfew and allow the Ashura procession to pass through its usual bazaar route on Friday.

The protesters were still there at the time of filing of this report late on Friday night.

The armed men belonging to Shia dominant 25 villages of upper Kohat first blocked the main Kohat-Parachinar Highway and then started march towards Hangu from Sherkot, Ustarzai, Upper Ustarzai, Kacha Pakha, Raisan, Chakarkot, Babar Mela, Kachai, Marai and other areas. Some of them managed to break the cordon of security forces on the Kohat-Hangu border and enter Hangu.

The rest gathered at Babar Mela and waited for orders from their elders what line of action to take in the prevailing situation. Later, they also entered Hangu.

The district administration of Hangu made it clear to the local protesters that the mourners' procession would not be allowed to take its usual route.

A jirga of the Shia community, led by district khateeb Allama Jawad Ahmed Jawadi who insisted on taking out Ashura procession on the 11th of Muharram told the government that they would not end their protest. He said they would take out processions from different places at any cost.