Five Frontier Corps (FC) men were killed and at least 20 others were injured in an attack on a relief convoy comprising over 100 trucks late on Monday evening in Kurram area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan. The convoy was escorted by security forces personnel in strength and helicopter gunships were used against the attackers and around 50 trucks managed to reach their destination.
After the attack, at least 35 vehicles were stranded in the area, while nine trucks safely reached Alizai, and around 20 trucks returned to Thall. Many other trucks were set on fire by the attackers, according to a driver in the convoy who managed to escape. Another driver said the convoy came under fire from the local population and that several drivers were still missing. He said among the injured were women and children who were caught in the crossfire.
The full extend of the damage suffered by the security forces and the convoy was not clear as of now. It may only be a couple of days later that things will become clear as more security forces are rushed into the area to help the stranded vehicles. The fresh spate of violence threatens the precarious peace prevailing in the region, since a ceasefire agreement was reached in Kurram after months of conflict that had claimed at least 130 months over four months, beginning with late August 2024.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had managed to establish a tenuous peace in this tribal area after repeated clashes. The warring sides in Kurram districts had signed a peace agreement after more than three weeks of efforts to broker a ceasefire amid violence in the area, according to officials.
This ceasefire had led to opening of roads in the area where an acute shortage of items of everyday use had been recorded for a couple of months. Lack of food and life-saving drugs had created a crisis and several patients died due to lack of treatment. The peace agreement was reached with much difficulty, not because of the government officials, but because of efforts of the Grand Jirga.
The seven-page peace agreement had 14 points to which both parties assented along with the Grand Jirga members. However, less than two months later, the conditions are fast returning to what they were in November-December 2024.
The acute scarcity of petrol and diesel in the area had led to large scale black marketing and a couple of days ago, petrol was being sold at Rs 1,200 per litre. Incidentally, the rate of petrol is around Rs 255 per litre all over Pakistan. It was also being rationed and no drivers were being allowed to buy more than 10 litres of it, according to reports published in Dawn and other media outlets.
The Thall-Parachinar Road, the only land route connecting Upper Kurram with other parts of Pakistan, has been closed again for traffic due to these persistent attacks. Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cadres virtually rule these areas with the Pakistan government officials avoiding venturing into the area.
On Monday, an aid convoy comprising over 130 trucks escorted by Frontier Corps (FC) personnel and several vehicles with mounted machine guns came under attack. The convoy bound for Parachinar had entered Lower Kurram through the Chapri Gate around noon. Soon time later, announcements were made from several mosques urging the armed locals to attack the convoy and loot the goods, according to some drivers who managed to drive their trucks to safety. According to the police, armed individuals ambushed food and supply trucks, which were being escorted by security forces, in the areas of Ochat, Dad Qamar, Mandori, Charkhail, and Bagan using automatic weapons.
The attack forced KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur of Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) to hold an emergency meeting in Peshawar. Chief Secretary Syed Shahab Ali Shah, Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), and other officials attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed the situation and made important decisions in response to the incident.
CM Gandapur looting of goods-laden convoy vehicles and directed security forces to take effective action to restore peace. It was decided in the meeting to clear Ochat, Mandori, and other areas of Kurram of TTP cadres referred to as Khwarij in the Pakistani media due to orders from the Federal government.
Authorities were directed to take indiscriminate and strict action against the attackers in these areas, the government spokesperson said. The local population will be evacuated from many areas to launch effective operations against the TTP men. This may lead to large scale displacement of the locals who will need to be put in some relief camps temporarily.
The provincial government express serious concern over the turn of events and the violence. Incidentally, it needs to be mentioned here that CM Gandapur has very strained relations with Federal government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi is from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which is supporting the Sharif government from outside. He has often made statements against Gandapur accusing him of not doing enough to check TTP cadres. In the past, on many occasions, Kundi has also advocated the dismissal of the PTI government headed by Gandapur.
