The three-week-long sit-in outside the Kurram Press Club in Parachinar ended on Sunday night, even as parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain isolated from other provinces. Tribal leaders warned of resuming the protest if their demands, including reopening transportation routes and addressing various grievances, are not fulfilled.
Key speakers at the protest, including Jamia Mosque Imam Allama Fida Hussain Mazahiri, Tehsil Chairman Agha Mazmil Hussain, and tribal leader Haji Abid Hussain, stated that the decision to pause the sit-in was made collaboratively to prioritize the greater national interest. Despite freezing temperatures, a significant crowd participated in the demonstration to highlight the issues affecting the region.
Earlier in the day, the KP government invoked Section 144 of the CrPC, prohibiting public gatherings in Kurram district for two months due to deteriorating law and order. Approximately 400,000 residents of Upper Kurram remain cut off, facing severe disruptions in the supply of essential goods.
The Kurram region, long plagued by violence, has seen escalated conflict since November, claiming around 140 lives. The fighting between tribal groups using heavy weapons has rendered the area largely inaccessible.
Although a ceasefire was brokered on January 1, an attack on a convoy delivering the first aid supplies since November injured seven individuals, including Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud. The injured were airlifted to Peshawar.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack, describing it as a “conspiracy” to undermine the fragile truce reached through tribal leaders’ mediation.
