An operation against miscreants in Baggan, Lower Kurram entered its second day on Monday, with authorities announcing that life in the entire district is effectively at a standstill. The closure of the Thall-Parachinar Highway has entered its 111th day.
Government sources told Khabar Kada that a curfew has been imposed in Baggan and security forces have taken control over adjacent checkposts in the area. The launch of the operation also means that the government campaign to demolish bunkers in the area has been suspended. According to members of the Grand Jirga, a total of eight bunkers have been demolished so far.
However, government sources also added that as a result of the operation and the curfew, supply to Parachinar and 100 other villages has been suspended. Mobile networks have been suspended in the area and hotels, commercial centres and even petrol pumps are closed.
Authorities announced on Sunday that they were launching a ‘sanitising’ operation in four village councils of lower Kurram. The decision to launch an operation comes after an aid convoy headed to Parachinar was attacked and looted on January 16. At least 19 trucks were deprived of their goods and later burned and their drivers abducted. The remaining trucks from among the convoy of 35 managed to flee to safety.
The ambush not only disrupted the supply of much-needed aid to the district but also claimed the lives of two security personnel and eight others including truck drivers.
Peace was restored to Kurram after almost three months of hostilities between Shia and Sunni tribes through a Grand Jirga in early January. The agreement had brought optimism that normalcy could return to the region which had been effectively cut off from the rest of the country and was in dire need of supplies ranging from food to medicine.
The agreement was followed by two convoys of aid trucks that brought supplies to the region. However, two major incidents have threatened to disrupt the fragile peace in the space of only a few days.
The first of these was an attack on Kurram’s district commissioner, which left him and at least six others injured. The attack on the convoy finally prompted the authorities to launch an operation in the area. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government Spokesman Barrister Saif said that the residents of the area who will be temporarily affected by the ongoing operation will be accommodated elsewhere.
