Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government said that the attack began with an assault on police personnel before targeting the passenger convoy from both sides, report by Hamza Ameer
At least 42 people have been killed while 14 others were critically injured after three vehicles in Kurram Agency, a remote area of Pakistan’s Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) province, were ambushed by militants.
Officials said that all the buses carrying locals, on the way from Parachinar to Peshawar, were mostly from the Shia community.
“42 people have died as a result of firing on passenger vehicles in Kurram district. These include women as well. 14 of them have no IDs. We are trying to get in touch with their relatives,” said a police official.
The Shia-dominated Parachinar area has had bloody confrontational clashes with the surrounding areas of the Sunni majority in the past.
No militant groups have claimed responsibility for the attack while the security forces have initiated a search operation to track down the attackers.
Station House Officer of Ahmady Shama, Kaleem Shah, confirmed the death toll and the number of people who got injured, which included three women, the Dawn reported.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack, stating that the federal government is in constant contact with the KP provincial government.
“This past week has been difficult and upsetting. We see a new incident every day and now are in constant contact with the KP authorities,” he said.
President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the tragic incident and said that “attacking innocent passengers is a cowardly and inhumane act”.
Speaking to Dawn, Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud suggested that while sectarian violence had occurred in the region before, the targeting of civilians in this attack raised the possibility of terrorism.
Earlier, the medical superintendent at Alizai Hospital, Dr Muhammad Ishaq, reported 33 fatalities and 30 injuries, with many of the injured being referred to hospitals in the district and others transferred to Peshawar.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack, stressing the importance of providing the best medical care to the injured and promising to identify and punish the perpetrators.
“The enemies of the peace of the country attacked the convoy of innocent citizens, which is tantamount to brutality. All attempts of anti-national elements to destroy the peace of the beloved country will be thwarted…The evil elements involved in the incident will be identified and punished accordingly. Saboteurs cannot demoralise the brave Pakistani nation by such cowardly actions,” Sharif said, as reported by Dawn.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur also condemned the attack and dispatched a delegation to Kurram to assess the situation.
Last month, two terrorists were killed in an operation in North Waziristan, and 12 security personnel were killed in a checkpost attack in Bannu.
Kurram agency has witnessed violent and deadly clashes in the past over land disputes between Shia and Sunni tribes. Over the years, both tribes have engaged in conflicts, which have claimed the lives of hundreds on both sides.
Since the last conflict between the tribes, the locals were allowed to travel in only convoys as per the decision taken by the local elders.
“It can at least be established that the gunmen were aware of the movement of the convoy from Parachinar towards Peshawar and had placed themselves in hiding positions around the surrounding mountains to carry out the attack,” said a local resident of Ochut.
Thursday’s attack is one of the deadliest ones in the ongoing longstanding sectarian conflict between the Shia and Sunni tribes in the Kurram district.
Earlier this month, thousands of residents gathered in Parachinar to participate in a “peace march” calling on the government to enhance the security of Kurram district’s 800,000 residents, over 45 per cent of who belong to the Shia community.
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