According to the police, troops have been deployed in Lower Kurram. Sources indicate that the people of Kurram are opposed to the operation, asserting that a unilateral military operation is unacceptable.

Efforts to restore peace in the region through local jirgas and negotiations between conflicting tribes have remained unsuccessful, especially after an aid convoy was targeted by militants earlier this week. The convoy was carrying food and medical supplies to the area following a peace accord signed between the clashing tribes.

The Turi and Bangash tribes assert that more than 10 violations have occurred since the peace agreement, yet the government has not taken any action. They have warned that if the roads are not opened and security is not ensured, they will announce a declaration of separation from the peace agreement and will prepare their own agenda.

Government sources claim that those displaced as a result of the operation will be accommodated in camps in Lower Kurram.

Meanwhile, due to the prolonged closure of roads, two more children have died, taking the number of dead children to 157.

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Sajid Turi, an erstwhile member of the National Assembly from Parachinar, told Dissent Today that many individuals involved in the violence did not sign the agreement. “I have no confidence in this agreement,” he said, adding that the provincial government showed little interest in developing a durable solution to the conflict.

Violent clashes between tribes stemming from longstanding land disputes have claimed at least 130 lives since November. According to sources, the actual death toll may be higher than reported, as several targeted attacks have claimed lives since the start of the conflict. 

The area has also witnessed a humanitarian crisis, with more than 100 children dying due to a shortage of food and medical supplies amid a blockade of the road that connects Parachinar to the rest of the country.

Following the agreement, the highway is expected to open soon, and the first convoy of food and medical supplies since the peace deal would be sent to the area by the Parachinar Trade Union. The provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan, along with the Red Crescent Society of Pakistan, also contributed humanitarian aid for the first convoy.

Turi, who is the Vice President of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, states that similar agreements between tribes have been made in the past, but they only provided temporary respite from clashes and failed to ensure lasting peace.

‘Taliban involved in Parachinar violence’

While the crisis in Parachinar was largely perceived as a sectarian issue between the Shia and Sunni communities in the area, Turi argues that there is more than meets the eye. “The Taliban and the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-KP) are active in the area,” he said, adding that militants from these groups have been exploiting sectarian differences by pressuring Sunni community leaders to side with them.

“Taliban militants have prevented Sunni representatives from signing peace agreements on numerous occasions because they want the clashes to continue,” Turi says. He further claimed that militants from the Islamic State and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have an active presence in Lower Kurram, extending up to the Alizai town.

According to a recent report by an Islamabad-based think tank, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recorded the highest number of terrorist attacks in the country in 2024, with 295 attacks. Attacks carried out by the TTP killed about 300 people during the year.

Attacks by ISIS-K that employ roadside bomb tactics have also increased in the province in recent months. In August, the group claimed responsibility for at least two attacks on Pakistan military personnel in the Khyber and Bajaur districts.

Turi says the authorities are trying to cover up the involvement of the Taliban and Islamic State in the violence in Kurram by presenting it solely as a sectarian issue. “Because Parachinar is a Shia-majority area, it is easy for them to portray the issue as a sectarian one and conceal the involvement of the Taliban,” he says.

On Tuesday, a Christian man who was mistaken for a Shia was beheaded by anti-Shia extremists in Kurram, with graphic images of his severed head circulating on social media. Turi says that the manner in which he was killed makes it clear that either the Taliban or the Islamic State was behind the incident.

In response to a question, Turi said that Parachinar and Kurram need a permanent solution to the issue, which requires the state to establish its authority in the region. “We urge the Pakistan Army to take action against the militants who have taken over our area,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Children and the elderly who suffered from seasonal viral infections died in recent weeks due to the severe shortage of life-saving drugs. There is a lack of gas and oxygen in the children’s ward at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), which is the city’s only government hospital. Nearly all local pharmacies in the Kurram district have run out of medicines.

At least 29 children have died since the blockade began in October, according to doctors. But the actual number of child fatalities due to the siege may be higher. Pediatrician Dr. Zulfiqar Ali told Dissent Today that the lack of access to petroleum in the area has prevented many patients from reaching hospitals in the outskirts of Parachinar. As a result, they are unable to register the number of child fatalities caused by various seasonal viral diseases.

The Thal-Parachinar Highway is the only road connecting Parachinar to the rest of the country, and it has been closed due to the ongoing sectarian clashes in the Kurram district, which began in October. The violence that resulted from the clashes claimed more than 120 lives.

Many children are admitted in the nursery ward at the District Headquarters Hospital in Parachinar, which is experiencing a shortage of gas and oxygen. With temperatures dropping to -4°C, the lives of many children under treatment at the hospital are at risk. Moreover, the shortage of milk is causing severe nutritional problems for children.

Child physicians at the DHQ hospital have requested the immediate provision of LPG gas for heating, as well as oxygen cylinders for emergencies and necessary medicines for children.

The hospital’s wards are currently at full capacity, and the administration is refusing admission to new patients.

Another pediatric specialist at DHQ Parachinar, Dr. Iqrar Hussain, said that the absence of gas for heating the hospital wards is forcing parents to take their sick children home. “This is causing the spread of viral infections among families,” he told Dissent Today.

Wajid Khan, the father of two-month-old twin babies from Lower Kurram, has been unable to find powdered milk for his children, as all the pharmacies and stores are out of stock. With tears in his eyes, he expressed his anguish over the lack of available nutrition. He noted that hundreds of other fathers are also searching the markets for nutrition for their children but have been unsuccessful.

A Parachinar-based social activist, Shahid Kazmi, told Dissent Today that the medicines provided by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister via helicopter are merely a media stunt. “In reality, the supplies delivered to the DHQ Hospital are insufficient to meet the needs of the approximately 380,000 people under siege in Upper Kurram.”

Javid Hussain

The writer is a journalist from Parachinar.

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The number of deaths from the sectarian conflict in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district has increased, with two more people killed and ten others wounded in recent shooting incidents. The death toll from the violence now stands at 124.

The cycle of violence has entered its tenth day, with the main Peshawar-Parachinar highway closed still for traffic. The road blockade has brought daily life in the region to a standstill.

The Kurram region is experiencing a loss of communication, as mobile and internet services have been halted and schools are closed. Efforts to reestablish peace are reportedly in progress, with Deputy Commissioner Javed Ullah Mehsud noting that negotiations are currently taking place with representatives from both conflicting parties.

“We are hopeful for progress on a ceasefire and reopening of transport routes,” he told the media on Friday.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has accused the provincial government of being complicit in the violence by remaining silent on the issue. He also requested Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, who is from the PPP, to provide a detailed report on the situation.

Tensions have persisted since November 21. A 10-day truce was negotiated earlier this week, but ongoing outbreaks of violence have undermined its effectiveness.

The latest round of fighting started ten days ago with attacks on two separate convoys protected by police, leading to 52 fatalities on the first day. Since then, clashes between the opposing factions have intensified, and police forces are having difficulty maintaining order.

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Beginning at the Parachinar Press Club, the march covered a distance of about 15 miles and ended at the Samir Abbas area. Most participants were from the Shia minority community, which has long been a target of sectarian violence in the region.

The protesters called on the authorities to reopen the Thal-Parachinar road, which connects Parachinar to the rest of the country. This road has been closed for about a month, and the blockade has brought daily life and trade in the town to a halt.

Another demand is action against militants targeting the Shia community. On November 5, civilian vehicles were reportedly attacked by these militants, killing two and injuring several others, including women. Further, the protesters have alleged that the Pakistan military has been distributing aid packages only to Sunni-dominated areas in the town, deliberately overlooking Shia areas. The marchers demanded the authorities end this policy of discrimination.

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The protest rally was organised at the Karachi Press Club, according to a press release.

Khalid Rao from Civil Progressive Alliance Pakistan, Noreen from Women Democratic Front, Professor Owais, Hasan Sagheer, Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, and a student Haroon Saleem, spoke at the occasion.

During the protest, members of the civil society expressed solidarity with the relatives of the teachers, while urging the law enforcers to fulfill their responsibility by arresting the terrorists responsible for the “barbaric act and put them behind bars”.

The organisers maintained that sectarian attacks are detrimental to the entire country and added that law enforcement agencies need to ensure the security of all segments of the society so the country can progress.

On May 4, seven Shia teachers were shot dead by unknown attackers at a school in the Kurram district of KP, with the regional commissioner terming the killings sectarian in nature.

The teachers include: Syed Hussain, Liaquat Hussain, Syed Ali Shah, Mehdi Hussain, Mohammad Ali, Ali Hussain and another invigilator, Express Tribune reported.

Contradictory accounts were being given for the motive behind the killings. The provincial Chief Minister’s Office cited the land dispute to be the cause, but the regional commissioner said it could be sectarian killings.

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