PESHAWAR:
Residents of Lower Kurram have started surrendering their firearms to authorities as part of a law enforcement operation (LEA) which entered its third day on Tuesday.
According to sources, the police collected weapons in Bagan and adjacent areas where the operation is currently taking place. They said the operation continued in the area on Tuesday, during which forces used heavy artillery and helicopter gunships to target the hideouts of suspected miscreants.
They said all roads leading to Bagan had been closed by the LEA and the army and no one was allowed to enter the area.
Sectarian tensions escalated in Kurram district in November last year after an attack on a convoy traveling from Parachinar to Peshawar. In the violence that followed, around 150 people lost their lives.
However, on January 1, members of the warring tribes signed an agreement under the auspices of a Tribal Jirga in Kohat.
As part of the peace deal, local residents pledged to hand over their weapons to the state in different phases within 15 days, while the dismantling of local bunkers must be completed by February 2025.
However, on January 4, a convoy of former Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud was attacked near the Bagan area, injuring the official and six members of his escort.
On January 13, the provincial government dismantled two of hundreds of bunkers established by the two warring factions, but on January 16, unidentified gunmen launched a rocket attack on a convoy of 35 vehicles carrying fruits, vegetables , medicines and other essential items from Thall to the city. Bagan region.
The miscreant also kidnapped a number of people who were part of the convoy and a day later, the dead bodies of six of them were found in the Aravali area of Kurram with their hands and feet tied.
Authorities launched an operation against the miscreants on Sunday after a high-level meeting in Peshawar. Operations against the disbelievers continued for the second consecutive day.
Condemning the ongoing operation, Bagan tribal elder Malik Iqbal Badshah said the rival group looted and then burned Bagan on November 22, triggering communal tensions.
“Now the government has also launched an operation against these same people while recovering their weapons,” he lamented. He added that heavy firearms were also confiscated in the region in 2007 and 2013.
Bagan resident Muhammad Afzal said Bagan residents were staging a protest in Mandori. “We demand that those who suffered losses during a tribal raid in November be compensated and that those responsible for the attack and ransacking of Bagan be brought to justice,” he said.
