5th aid convoy departs for Kurram amid tight security arrangements: official

A convoy of 70 vehicles carrying relief supplies departed for Kurram on Friday amid tight security arrangements along the route, officials said.

After an attack on a convoy in Lower Kurram’s Bagan area killed over 40 people in November, ensuing clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes have claimed at least 130 more lives in the district.

The volatile security situation led to the closure of a main road for weeks, resulting in a shortage of essential goods and medicines in Upper Kurram’s Parachinar. While a ceasefire deal was signed between warring tribes on January 1, attacks on a government convoy and an aid convoy this month put peace in peril.

The first convoy had arrived in the Parachinar on January 8 after remaining stuck on the Hangu-Kurram border for several days following an attack on Kurram DC Mehsud. 10 people were killed when a convoy of 35 vehicles was attacked in Kurram last week. A fourth convoy of 61 vehicles carrying relief supplies reached Kurram on Wednesday under tight security

“A convoy of 70 vehicles carrying essential supplies had departed from the Torpal checkpost towards Kurram under the supervision of Hangu Regional Police Officer Abbas Majeed Marwat and Kohat Division Commissioner Mutasim Billah Shah,” Hangu Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gohar Zaman Wazir said.

The vehicles were carrying fruit, vegetables, ghee, sugar, chicken, eggs and various food items, DC Wazir said.

Security personnel have been deployed at various places for the safety of the convoy, according to Hangu District Police Order (DPO) Muhammad Khalid.

Meanwhile, police arrested Tehsil Chairman Agha Muzammil Hussain Fasih this morning and a first information report (FIR) was registered against him for holding a sit-in protest, Kurram DPO Ahmad Shah said.