Gunmen ambush Pakistan aid convoy despite sectarian truce

By The Straits Times | Created at 2025-01-04 10:12:30 | Updated at 2025-01-06 14:24:40 2 days ago
Truth

PESHAWAR - Gunmen ambushed a Pakistan convoy travelling to bring aid to a region besieged by sectarian fighting on Jan 4, the local government said, wounding several officials despite a ceasefire announced three days ago.

The Kurram region of north-west Pakistan has been wracked by Sunni-Shiite violence for decades, but around 200 people have been killed since a fresh bout of fighting broke out in November.

As feuding tribes have battled with machine guns and heavy weapons, the remote and mountainous region bordering Afghanistan has been largely cut off from the outside world.

After a truce was called on Jan 1, the convoy was attacked as it travelled to collect the first aid delivery of food and medicine sent by road since November, officials said.

Kurram’s deputy commissioner was wounded “along with two other administration officials, two policemen and two Frontier Corps soldiers”, local government official Motasim Billah told AFP.

He said the attack took place around 11am local time.

The deputy commissioner “came under an attack by unidentified miscreants” but his “condition is out of danger” according to Mr Muhammad Ali Saif, the spokesman of north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“The convoy has been temporarily halted due to security concerns,” he added in a statement.

Numerous ceasefires have been touted by the provincial government since the latest fighting broke out, only to be broken with renewed clashes hours later.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement the attack was “a conspiracy” intended to undo the ceasefire agreed on New Year’s Day following a council of tribal leaders from both sides.

“Mischievous elements carried out the firing to harm the peace agreement,” he said in a statement.

Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country but Shiites make up between 10 and 15 per cent of the population.

The communities live side-by-side in Kurram, but feuding is regularly resparked over land disputes before igniting along sectarian divides.

This current round of violence started in November when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims travelling under police escort were ambushed, with 40 people killed. AFP

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