In another horrific incident reported on Monday, terrorists in the Bagan Ochit area of Kurram District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) brutally murdered two passengers from Parachinar.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the victims were shot dead and then beheaded, with the terrorists releasing a video of the gruesome act.
According to the police, the passengers, frustrated by prolonged waiting to go back to their home, were travelling from Hangu to Parachinar when they were ambushed.
The police said they had paid a significant amount of money to their friends who belonged to the rival party as intermediaries for safe passage through the region.
The police said that despite the deal, the terrorists killed the victims and recorded the brutal murders. Police have stated that investigations into the incident are underway.
Reacting to the deteriorating situation in Kurram District, Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Hameed Hussain condemned the government’s insistence on disarming citizens in such a volatile environment.
MNA Hameed Hussain remarked, "Disarming the besieged residents of Kurram while terrorists roam freely is an injustice. It’s better the government kills us itself than lets terrorists do it."
--Background--
On November 21, at least 44 people, including seven women and children, were killed and over 50 injured during the terrorist attacks on passenger vehicles in Parachinar.
According to police, the incident occurred in the Ochut area of Lower Kurram, where armed assailants ambushed two passenger convoys that belonged to the Tori Bangash tribes, one heading to Peshawar and the other to Parachinar.
Authorities imposed a curfew and suspended mobile phone service in the remote mountainous Kurram district after the terror incident. All the educational institutions were also shut down in Kurram District owing to the deterioration in the law and order situation.
On November 23, as many as 16 people were killed and 25 injured in clashes between rival tribes, which were triggered by the armed attack on two passenger convoys in Kurram District.
The deadly gun battles between the Alizai and Bagan tribes were reported from Balishkhail, Kharkali, Kunj Alizai, and Maqbal villages in Tehsil Lower Kurram of Parachinar, the main town in Kurram District. The opponents were freely using heavy and automatic weapons against each other.
On November 30, AFP reported that a local government official said sectarian feuding in Parachinar has killed 13 more people—two were Sunnis and 11 Shiites—bringing the total death toll in a recent spasm of violence to 124.
Kurram district—in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, near the border with Afghanistan—has a large Shiite population, and the communities have clashed for decades.
It is pertinent to mention here that people in Parachinar are facing great inconvenience due to the closure of different routes, including the main highway, for the last 70 days.
Yesterday, as many as 50 children, suffering from different diseases, lost their lives in strife-torn Parachinar after they could not be taken to hospitals due to the closure of roads.
On the other hand, sources in Edhi, while confirming the figures of deaths of children as given by the social worker, told the 24News TV channel that 31 fatalities had been reported from the DHQ Hospital while at surrounding hospitals.
Reporter: Mohsin Shirazi