January-September attacks and convoy blockades highlight continued volatility in Kurram
Security forces killed 23 militants during two intelligence operations in Kurram district, the army said on Thursday. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operations were carried out on November 19 after reports of the presence of militants described as belonging to the Indian-sponsored group ‘Fitna Al Khwarij’.
The ISPR said the first engagement took place after the troops started moving into a remote part of the district. The statement said an intense exchange of fire followed and twelve militants were killed. A second intelligence operation led to another operation in the same larger area, during which eleven additional militants were “neutralized”, the army said. He added that disinfection efforts continued as part of the broader anti-terrorism campaign Azm-e-Istehkam, which was approved by the Supreme Federal Committee on National Action Plan.
This latest action follows a series of violent incidents in Kurram this year. In January, two separate attacks targeted supply convoys on the Thall-Parachinar road, one of which left eight people dead. The disruption to essential traffic prompted authorities to facilitate the dispatch of a 225-vehicle relief convoy that reached Parachinar in March after days of blocked access.
In June, four people were killed and four others injured in a roadside improvised explosive device explosion near Parachinar. A militant attack in September forced the temporary closure of this same key road, highlighting the continued security instability in the district.
Kurram lies in a narrow valley framed by the Safed Koh Mountains and connected by a network of passes vulnerable to bad weather and conflict-related closures. Parachinar serves as the district headquarters and is close to the Afghan border, giving the area strategic weight but also exposing it to regional spillovers.
The district’s population includes the Shia Turi communities of upper Kurram and Sunni Pashtun tribes such as the Bangash of central and lower Kurram. Local conflicts over land, access routes and security have been simmering for decades and intensified during early phases of militancy. Although the 2018 merger of the former tribal region with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa led to administrative changes, recurring attacks on convoys and trade routes show that many underlying tensions remain unresolved.
