Peshawar / Swat: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s government ordered an investigation into an alleged ‘drone strike’ that killed nine members of the Gujjar community, while the group warned about protests against the murders.
According to the community, nine of its members, all shepherds, were killed on strike launched as part of an anti -terrorism operation in the Katlang Mardan area on Saturday.
The provincial government had previously said that the victims were ‘collateral damage’.
But Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s prime minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur condemned the civil casualties and ordered an investigation.
The families of the victims warn of March towards Islamabad if justice is not served
“The provincial government will clear its position on the incident only after the investigation report,” Gandapur said in a statement issued on Sunday.
The incident caused protests in Samozai and adjacent areas when the relatives of the victims, together with the locals, placed the bodies on the Swat highway and maintained traffic for hours.
They accused the security forces of carrying out the strike, which claimed the lives of the shepherds who had temporarily established in Katlang for winter before their annual migration return to the upper part of Swat in the summer.
While cited official reports, Gandapur said an operation in the area on Saturday morning resulted in the murder of 12 terrorists.
He said that “Hardcore terrorists” have been killed in past operations in the area as well.
However, he said that the alleged death of civilians in the operation will be “exhaustive.”
The CM of KP added that his government was committed to uprooting the militancy of the province.
Protest warning
The funeral of the victims in the Ghaligey field of Barikot, in his native Swat region on Sunday, attended a large number of people.
A massive protest after funeral urged the government to “take the matter seriously” and investigate deaths.
“Our elders have decided that the entire Gujar community throughout the country will meet here in Malakand and go to Islamabad to demand justice,” said the protesters.
They demanded independent investigation into the incident and warned about a march towards Islamabad after Eidul Fitr if their demands were not met.
The protesters also criticized the statement of Barríster Saif, the advisor of the Prime Minister of KP, who said that the militants were killed in the strike.
The protesters insisted that the victims were innocent civilians and that the attack represented a serious intelligence failure.
The provincial president of PTI, Junaid Akber, also visited the families of the victims and condemned the murders.
He also expressed his dismay for the statements of federal and KP officials in which they had declared that the militants were killed in the attack.
“The first innocent people were killed and then called terrorists,” Akber said.
The Matorzai tribe also protest in the Swat Charbagh area against the murders.
Posted in Dawn, March 31, 2025
