By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: The provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced on Sunday that action against miscreants in the violence-stricken Kurram District was now unavoidable, after a surge in sectarian clashes and attacks on relief and food convoys.
Action against such miscreants in affected areas is indispensable,” said KP government spokesperson Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif in a statement. “Action against a few miscreants in the affected areas has become unavoidable,”
“The government apprehends that a few miscreants have infiltrated peaceful people and those elements had attempted to sabotage the peace deal.”
The decision was made in a high-level meeting attended by provincial chief secretary, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Akhtar Hayat Khan, and civil and police officers.
The KP government has been trying to restore peace in Kurram for the past three months, with a ceasefire deal signed between warring tribes on January 1. However, attacks on a government convoy and an aid convoy this month have put the peace agreement in peril.
Last week, terrorists ambushed a convoy of 35 vehicles, killing at least 8 people, including security personnel, drivers, and civilians. Retaliatory action by security forces resulted in the killing of six assailants.
“It is requested that the public fully cooperate with the security forces in the affected areas,” the government statement said. “The government would soon eliminate the miscreants and restore peace in the affected areas.”
Kurram district, which borders Afghanistan, has been plagued by tribal and sectarian clashes since November 21, when armed men attacked a convoy of Shia passengers, killing 52 people. The violence has led to a blockade of the main road connecting Kurram’s main town of Parachinar with the provincial capital of Peshawar, causing shortages of medicine, food, and fuel.
The clashes have resulted in a total of 136 casualties, with the violence showing no signs of abating. Feuding tribes have battled with machine guns and heavy weapons, cutting off the remote and mountainous region from the outside world.
The government has planned to launch a limited “counter-terrorism operation” in the Lower Kurram tehsil, with camps for temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) set up to accommodate over 1,000 families who would be displaced. “Best alternative arrangements have been made for the accommodation of the people of the affected areas,” the government statement said.
Urging the people of affected areas to “fully cooperate” with the government, the statement promised that the government would soon eliminate the miscreants and restore peace in the area. “It is requested that the public fully cooperate with the security forces in the affected areas,” he said. “The government would soon eliminate the miscreants and restore peace in the affected areas.”
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
