DC, citing ‘expected’ security operation in Lower Kurram, orders establishment of TDP camps – Pakistan

The Kurram deputy commissioner (DC) has ordered camps for temporarily displaced persons (TDP) to be established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Kurram tehsil, citing an “expected” counterterrorism operation, it emerged on Saturday.

The development comes as two aid convoys — heading to Parachinar which has been facing food and medicine shortages due to road blockades — were attacked this month after a peace deal was signed between warring tribes on January 1.

After a November 21 attack on a convoy in the Bagan area killed 50 people, ensuing clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes have claimed at least 130 more lives.

The order, dated January 17 and a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was written by Kurram DC Ashfaq Khan to the relief secretary of KP’s Rehabilitation and Settlement Department.

Titled ‘Establishment of camp to TDPs of District Kurram’, the letter said: “It is stated that LEAs (law enforcement agencies) is planning to operation [sic] in various areas of Lower Kurram as per detail given below to counter terrorism.”

According to the listed details, 866 families and 9,685 “households” from Baggan; 466 families and 5,245 households from Mandori/Uchat/Charkhel; and 547 families and 2,494 households from Chapri Paraw and Chapri would be relocated.

More than 1,000 families would be relocated under the plan.

The letter proposed four sites in Thall for the TDP camps to “ensure safety and support of the affected population during the expected operation”, including Government Boys Degree College, stated as having 25 rooms and two halls.

Government Technical College, which had 15 rooms and a hall; an under-construction Rescue 1122 compound with 10 rooms and two halls; and an under-construction judicial building with 15 rooms and two halls were the other sites proposed.

“Furthermore, a committee at Chapri Lower Kurram under the supervision of additional deputy commissioner (R&HR) Kurram has already been notified […] for coordination purpose,” the DC letter added.

In Thursday’s attack on a convoy in Lower Kurram’s Bagan area, two security officials were martyred and five others injured. Retaliatory action by security forces left six attackers dead and 10 inju­red.

While police recovered the bodies of four drivers with their hands tied, five were still missing.

Sources said that out of 35 trucks in the convoy, only two made it back to Thall, while more than 10 trucks were looted and set ablaze.

On January 4, a government convoy was attacked near Bagan, injuring former DC Javedullah Mehsud and leaving the convoy stranded.

Protest in Lower Kurram

Meanwhile, protests in Bagan, which have been going on for three weeks, continued on Friday, with residents demanding the reconstruction of their town and compensation for losses incurred during an earlier attack.

Protesters have vowed not to allow convoys to proceed to Parachinar until their demands are met.

Local elder Haji Karim said that Bagan town, located about 60 kilometres from Parachinar, and its bazaar comprising over 500 shops and houses were destroyed in an attack following the Nov 21 ambush on a Parachinar-bound convoy.