Communal violence: 18 killed, 30 injured, situation worsens here
Peshawar: The situation in Kurram district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province remains extremely tense. Several people have died in communal violence. The government and police are trying to restore peace. According to a report by Dawn.com, 18 more people were killed and 30 others injured in the latest clashes. According to the report, this violence comes after the deadly attack on Thursday, when a convoy of about 200 vehicles was heavily fired upon in the densely populated Bagan city of Kurram. It is being told that most of the convoy was Shia passengers. At least 43 people were killed and 16 others were injured in the attack.
The convoy was carrying passengers between Peshawar and Parachinar city, which is in Kurram district near the Afghanistan border, which has a history of communal violence and land disputes. According to Dawn.com, Kurram Deputy Commissioner (DC) Javedullah Mehsud said efforts were being made to restore peace in the area. Meanwhile, the banned Shia group Zainibiun Brigade has vowed to avenge the killing of 43 Shia Muslims by unidentified gunmen on Thursday. The victims were travelling from the Shia-dominated Parachinar area to Peshawar.
Several incidents of violence have been reported across the country since Friday, with angry protesters targeting passenger vehicles, ambulances and police vehicles. Angry protesters set trucks on fire, pelted stones at police vehicles and blocked army convoy routes to protest the massacre. They are angry at the government’s failure to restore law and order and maintain peace. Locals fear that the killings have enraged Iran-backed Shia militant group Zainibiun, which may now set fire to the villages from where gunmen attacked the victims’ convoy.
The Shia-dominated Parachinar region has seen bloody clashes with Sunni-dominated surrounding areas in the past. Markets and educational institutions are completely closed here and locals are staging violent protests. So far at least two security checkpoints have been set on fire, while roads have been blocked with stones and burning tyres.
A local resident of Parachinar said, “The area has been badly affected due to communal violence. Threats are being given that the killings will be avenged by setting fire to all the villages from where the gunmen fired on the vehicles. They want to kill all the people living in these villages.” Protesters in Parachinar are also demanding immediate opening of the border with Afghanistan amid rapidly deteriorating conditions and shortage of food, medicines, fuel and oxygen.
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Shia organisation and political party Majis Wahdat Muslimeen (MWM) has put forth demands before the government, including making Parachinar airport operational due to unsafe roads and starting a free shuttle service between Parachinar and Peshawar via PIA or Air Force planes. MWM has also demanded the deployment of local Kurram militia in place of federal forces. The protesters have warned that if the provincial and federal government ignore their demands, they will be forced to seek help from human rights organisations and even the United Nations.
