ISLAMABAD: The Thall-Parachinar road – the only road connecting the bordering tribal belt with the rest of Pakistan – retains its label of a “slaughter house” where Turi and Bangash tribes’ people continue to be indiscriminately targeted.
On Sunday, four people were killed and three wounded after terrorists fired on two Peshawar-bound passenger vehicles near Sadda Bazaar, Lower Kurramin Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – the fifth such terror attack in less than two weeks.
The Thall-Parachinar road has a long history of targeted sectarian attacks against the people of Parachinar with hundreds killed in separate targeted incidents of terrorism, said Javed Hussain Turi, a social activist belonging to Parachinar who was among the participants of a protest demonstration in front of National Press Club in Islamabad on Monday.
There has been a sharp increase in such incidents in the last few months following the 2007 siege of the tribal belt by various terror groups, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) when the militants marched towards Kurram tribal district from North and South Waziristan, Turi added.
Parachinar, the district headquarters of Kurram, is strategically located bordering three provinces of Afghanistan – Paktia, Paktika and Nangarhar – and Tall-Parachinar is the only way to connect the valley to the rest of the country.
“We are tired of burying our loved ones, as it has become a matter of routine for terrorists to target them with impunity.
On Sunday, a lady doctor was also among those killed by the terrorists and there is a list of professionals and students either killed on the spot or kidnapped and later killed,” said Mohammad Abbas Bangash, an elder from Parachinar.
Hundreds of innocent people have been killed in targeted incidents on this fateful road despite various agreements between the rival tribes of Upper and Lower Kurram to keep it safe and secure for passengers.
Ajmal Hussain Turi, who recently lost his cousin in one of these targeted incidents recently, told this correspondent that the people belonging to Turi and Bangash tribe of Parachinar have become a soft target for the terrorists.
He said that people have to travel on the road on their own risk and repeatedly fall prey to the terrorists for their identity and belief with no concrete steps by the government to go after the terrorist elements involved in these incidents.
“There are a number of such incidents but so far no arrest has been made to provide justice to the victim families,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, a large number of protesters staged a protest demonstration in front of the National Press Club, Islamabad against the repeated terrorist incidents on Thall-Parachinar road and the government inaction to provide safety and security for the passengers.
The protesters were chanting slogans, condemning the terrorism and demanding of the government to take practical steps to ensure security of the passengers traveling from Parachinar to Peshawar.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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