KP govt moot on Kurram says action against ‘miscreants’ unavoidable
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Sunday noted that action against “few miscreants” in the affected areas of violence-stricken Kurram District was now “unavoidable”.
After an attack on a convoy in Lower Kurram’s Bagan area killed over 40 people in November last year, ensuing clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes have claimed at least 130 more lives.
The volatile security situation led to the closure of a main road for weeks, resulting in a shortage of essential goods and medicines in Upper Kurram’s Parachinar. While a ceasefire deal was signed between warring tribes on January 1, attacks on a government convoy and an aid convoy this month put peace in peril.
In response, authorities have planned to launch a limited “counter-terrorism operation” in the Lower Kurram tehsil, with camps for temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) ordered to be set up as over 1,000 families would be displaced.
Today’s meeting, held by government and security officials to review the security situation in Kurram, decided to take “indiscriminate action against miscreants”.
“Action against a few miscreants in the affected areas has become unavoidable,” said a statement issued by KP government spokesperson Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif.
The meeting was attended by Saif, KP Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, and KP police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan, among other officials.
During the meeting, it was also decided that the peace agreement would be implemented “as per the law and Pashtun traditions”.
While the statement did not use the term “military operation”, it said: “Security forces would be present to support the police and the civil administration in action against the miscreants.
“The government apprehends that a few miscreants have infiltrated peaceful people,” it added, noting that those elements had “attempted to sabotage the peace deal”.
In an apparent reference to the establishment of TDP camps, the statement said action would be taken after “separating peaceful people from miscreants to save them from loss”.
It asserted that the “best alternate arrangements” had been made to relocate those who would be displaced in the affected areas. According to an earlier government order, over 1,000 families would be relocated from various Lower Kurram areas to four sites in Thall.
The government also sought help from “both parties to help the law enforcement agencies in identifying miscreants present among them”. Reaffirming that the state stood with the peaceful elements, the government vowed that the “oppressors” would be brought to justice.
The statement stressed that the KP government had been trying to restore peace in Kurram for the past three months, adding that the ceasefire deal was agreed upon as per Pashtun traditions.
It recalled the attacks on convoys this month, noting that “miscreants were targeting security forces personnel and aid convoys”.
“It is requested that the public fully cooperate with the security forces in the affected areas. The government would soon eliminate the miscreants and restore peace in the affected areas,” the statement said.
Jirga members from Upper Kurram call for action against militants
Separately, several members of a Kurram jirga, in a letter written to the top political leadership and the army chief, have called for action to be taken against militants preventing the implementation of a truce deal.
The jirga letter, dated January 18 (Saturday) and signed by seven members, was addressed to 14 individuals, including Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Copies of it were also sent to Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, KP Law Minister Aftab Alam, the provincial chief secretary, Kurram DC Ashfaq Khan and the Kohat commissioner.
Peshawar-based XI Corps’ commander Maj Gen Omer Bukhari, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 9 Division Kohat Major General Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti, commander of Parachinar’s 73 Brigade and the Kurram Militia commandant were the other recipients.
The letter was signed by jirga representatives ex-MNA Pir Haider Ali Shah, Haji Noorjaf, Laiq Orakzai, Wasi Syed Mian, Izzat Gul, Haji Faizullah and Syed Hussain Ali Shah Alhussaini.
The members highlighted that they had been involved in various jirga negotiations for the past 14-15 years but “matters have intensified between the parties in recent few months”.
Recalling that a 14-point ceasefire agreement was signed in January, they noted that former MNAs Sajid Hussain Turi, Jawad Hussain and Fakhar Zaman Bangash; MNA Hameed Hussain; MPAs Ali Hadi Irfani and Riaz Shaheen; and ex-senator Mian Sajjad Syed were among those who took part in the jirga talks.
“State institutions have totally failed in Kurram District,” the letter said, adding that the jirga members were of the view that neither its suggestions were being followed nor the written agreement of 2024 was being implemented.
It demanded that a joint investigation team (JIT) headed by a judge be formed “so that the terrorists are strictly punished, those supporting them could be exposed, the main Thall-Parachinar Road could be made safe for traffic of all kinds, and every possible action is taken to satisfy the people”.
It said the JIT was necessary “to compensate for the loss of life and property in repeated terrorist attacks on convoys, stop these terrorist activities, and eliminate elements openly supporting terrorists”.
Highlighting the weeks-long road blockade, the letter said various elderly and children had died due to the resulting medicine shortages, and visas of individuals visiting there from abroad had also expired.
Detailing the recent attacks on convoys, it claimed that the local station house officer was fired upon in Khar Kali while PTCL workers also came under attack in Bagan.
In Thursday’s attack on a convoy in the Bagan area, two security officials were martyred and five others injured. Retaliatory action by security forces left six attackers dead and 10 injured.
While police recovered the bodies of four drivers with their hands tied, five were still missing. Sources said that out of 35 trucks in the convoy, only two made it back to Thall, while more than 10 trucks were looted and set ablaze.
However, in the letter, the jirga members said that “between four to eight” drivers were killed while “some” drivers remained missing. “Dealers [of the supplies] suffered a loss of Rs2 billion,” it further claimed.
The jirga members claimed they were assured during a meeting on January 13 that 1,400 personnel — including from the police, Frontier Corps and the army — would be deployed from Chapri to Sadda in Lower Kurram.
Aid convoy with 22 trucks departs for Hangu: PDMA
The KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said that an aid convoy comprising 22 trucks had departed for the Hangu district, where essential items would be distributed among those displaced from their homes in the Kurram district.
According to a PDMA press release, the aid includes 500 family-sized tents, 1,000 foams, 1,000 blankets, 500 kitchen sets, 500 hygiene kits, 1,000 plastic mats, 500 solar lamps and 500 searching lights, as well as other essential items.
The statement said the trucks would reach the office of the Hangu deputy commissioner (DC) by the evening.
Haji Naik Mohammad Dawood, the KP CM’s aide on relief, said in a statement that aid was being provided to those affected in Kurram “in ample amounts according to their needs”, noting that 1,000 tents and other items had also been sent previously to Kurram.
Dawood further said that the entire staff of the PDMA was on red alert and an emergency cell was functioning 24 hours.