Death toll in attack on Kurram aid convoy rises to 10: official – Pakistan

The death toll in a previous day’s attack on a supply convoy bound for Parachinar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district has risen to 10, District Health Officer (DHO) Qaiser Abbas told Dawn.com on Friday.

A day ago, a security official was martyred and four others were injured when the convoy of 35 vehicles, carrying food and other essential items to Parachinar, came under attack in the Bagan area.

In retaliatory action by security personnel escorting the convoy, six attackers were killed and 10 others were injured. Although communications were lost with the drivers of 29 vehicles, some of them managed to make it safely to Thall in Hangu district.

The Kurram DHO told Dawn.com today that following the attack on the supply convoy, another security official had been martyred, and six drivers and two other passengers were among those killed, raising the death toll to 10 within the last 24 hours.

“The bodies of a driver and a passenger were dismembered and taken to Lower Alizai in sacks,” DHO Abbas said.

He added that four of the drivers’ bodies were found in the morning in the Udawali area with their hands bound and signs of torture. The DHO said they had been shot dead and the bodies were moved to Alizai Hospital.

Additionally, the drivers’ family members told Dawn.com that they were in contact with the victims until 1am, after which they could not be reached.

Meanwhile, Nazir Ahmad, president of the Parachinar Trade Union, told Dawn.com that 20 trucks in the convoy were burned and looted, while only one reached Parachinar and returned to its point of origin after delivering its cargo.

“Six drivers were killed and three others are missing,” Ahmad said.

Clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes claimed at least 130 lives since November, with food and medicine shortages reported due to weeks-long road blockades.

A peace agreement was signed on January 1, but the route connecting Parachinar remained blocked. On January 4, a government convoy was attacked near Bagan, injuring Kurram’s deputy commissioner and leaving the convoy stranded.