The death toll from Thursday’s attack on a supply convoy bound for Parachinar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district has risen to 10, said District Health Officer (DHO) Qaiser Abbas.
The official said the deceased included one more security official, six drivers and two passengers.
A day ago, a security official was martyred and four others were injured when the convoy of 35 vehicles, carrying food and other essential items to Parachinar, came under attack in the Bagan area.
In retaliatory action by security personnel escorting the convoy, six attackers were killed and 10 others were injured. Although communications were lost with the drivers of 29 vehicles, some of them managed to make it safely to Thall in Hangu district.
The Kurram DHO told the media that one of the security officials injured a day ago had succumbed to his injuries overnight. Regarding the other deceased, he said: “The bodies of a driver and a passenger were dismembered and taken to Lower Alizai in sacks.”
He added that the bodies of four drivers were found in the morning in the Udawali area with their hands bound and signs of torture. The DHO said they had been shot dead and the bodies were moved to Alizai Hospital.
Additionally, the drivers’ family members told the media that they were in contact with the victims until 1am, after which they could not be reached.
Meanwhile, Nazir Ahmad, president of the Parachinar Trade Union, told the media that 20 trucks in the convoy were burned and looted, while only one reached Parachinar and returned to its point of origin after delivering its cargo.
“Six drivers were killed and three others are missing,” Ahmad said.
Clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes claimed at least 130 lives since November, with food and medicine shortages reported due to weeks-long road blockades.
A peace agreement was signed on January 1, but the route connecting Parachinar remained blocked. On January 4, a government convoy was attacked near Bagan, injuring Kurram’s deputy commissioner and leaving the convoy stranded.
Separately, security forces killed five terrorists during an intelligence-based operation conducted in general area of Tirah Valley, Khyber district on the reported presence of terrorists, said ISPR.
The military’s media wing noted that during the conduct of operation, the troops effectively engaged terrorists location, as a result of which, five terrorists including their ring leader Abidullah Turab, were killed, while one was apprehended. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from them, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area against the security forces as well as killing of innocent civilians.
The ISPR added that sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area as the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country. The ISPR said a day ago that security forces killed 22 terrorists and injured 18 others in various IBOs across Tirah since December 14.
“Of late, numerous terrorist incidents have occurred in general area Tirah, Khyber district against security forces as well as the innocent civilians, resulting in several casualties,” said the statement.
The ISPR added that the IBOs would continue till peace in the area was restored and the terrorists were eliminated. Armed terrorists, affiliated with various groups, are understood to have gradually moved out of the plains of Tirah valley, taking refuge in vacant houses in the hilly terrain, as security forces fortified their positions in key locations of the valley.
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