Death toll in attack on Kurram convoy rises to 10

F.P. Report

PARACHINAR: The death toll from Thursday’s attack on a supply convoy bound for Parachinar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district has risen to 10, said District Health Officer (DHO) Qaiser Abbas.

The official, speaking to media on Friday, said the deceased included one more security official, six drivers and two passengers. In retaliatory action by security personnel escorting the convoy, six attackers were killed and 10 others were injured. Although communications were lost with the drivers of 29 vehicles, some of them managed to make it safely to Thall in Hangu district.

The Kurram DHO told media on Friday that one of the security officials injured a day ago had succumbed to his injuries overnight. Regarding the other deceased, he said: “The bodies of a driver and a passenger were dismembered and taken to Lower Alizai in sacks.”

He added that the bodies of four drivers were found in the morning in the Udawali area with their hands bound and signs of torture. The DHO said they had been shot dead and the bodies were moved to Alizai Hospital. Additionally, the drivers’ family members told media that they were in contact with the victims until 1am, after which they could not be reached.

Meanwhile, Nazir Ahmad, president of the Parachinar Trade Union, told media that 20 trucks in the convoy were burned and looted, while only one reached Parachinar and returned to its point of origin after delivering its cargo. “Six drivers were killed and three others are missing,” Ahmad said.

A substantial security detail, including police, Frontier Corps (FC), and other security forces, had been deployed for protection. Following the terrorism incident, the convoy transporting goods to Kurram was halted and sent back for safety.

It was a major setback to the peace agreement that finally allowed aid to be sent to the restive region which remained in the spotlight for months following a wave of tribal violence that claimed over 130 lives and resulted in the closure of routes for over 100 days. So far, only two consignments of aid for Kurram could be dispatched during the last two weeks, with the latest one to reach the tribal region on January 14.

The residents complain that the aid that had been delivered goods were “not good enough”, while the helicopter service for patient transfers from Kurram also remains suspended for the past 10 days. Despite a peace deal reached between the warring tribes under the negotiations facilitated by the Grand Jirga, the Kurram Peace Committee, and local peace groups, the situation remains precarious in the district.