The death toll from Thursday’s attack on a Parachinar-bound supply convoy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district has risen to 10, District Health Officer (DHO) Qaiser Abbas said.
The official, speaking with dawn.com On Friday, he said the dead included one more security officer, six drivers and two passengers.
A day ago, a security official was killed and four others injured when the 35-vehicle convoy carrying food and other essential items to Parachinar was attacked in Bagan area.
In retaliation by security personnel escorting the convoy, six attackers were killed and 10 others were injured. Although communications with the drivers of 29 vehicles were lost, some of them managed to reach Thall in Hangu district safely.
The Kurram DHO said dawn.com today that one of the security officers injured a day ago had succumbed to his injuries during the night. Regarding the other deceased, he said: “The bodies of a driver and a passenger were dismembered and taken in bags to Lower Alizai.”
He added that the bodies of four drivers were found in the morning in the Udawali area with their hands tied and signs of torture. The DHO said they had been shot dead and the bodies were taken to Alizai Hospital.
Furthermore, the drivers’ relatives said dawn.com who were in contact with the victims until 1 a.m., after which they could not be located.
Meanwhile, Nazir Ahmad, president of Parachinar Union, said dawn.com that 20 trucks of the convoy were burnt and looted, while only one reached Parachinar and returned to its point of origin after delivering its cargo.
“Six drivers died and three others are missing,” Ahmad said.
Clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes have claimed at least 130 lives since November, and food and medicine shortages were 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.
