Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s government said Monday that Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was “in contact” with the relevant administration about the incident of the protesters who shot in the Tirah Valley in the Khyber district.
Seven people were shot on Sunday after a demonstration outside the headquarters of the Bagh-Maidan Markaz against the death of a younger girl in a mortar strike in Zakhakhel in Tirah.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “dismissal to peaceful citizens for Khawarij”, a term used by the State to refer to the forbidden Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). However, according to sources and protesters, the security personnel who protect the installation had opened fire to control the crowd.
In addition to the seven dead, at least another 16 also received gunshot wounds, the sources said. There has been no official statement of the local administration or the military on the mortar strike or the murders of Sunday.
“The main minister is in constant contact with the relevant administration,” said the public relations advisor of CM Gandapur, Barrísceto Mohammad Ali Saif, in a statement.
He said that KP’s prime minister was “monitoring” the Tirah incident himself. “The KP government is extremely sad for the incident,” Saif added.
“The provincial government is with the affected families in this moment of sadness and pain,” said the official.
SAIF also criticized KP’s opposition parties again for not attending a multiparty conference (MPC) held last week on the security situation in the province, emphasizing that the debatable had organized “to avoid such incidents.”
The statement recalled that the provincial government will hold a series of Jirgas with tribal elders next week, including one in Peshawar. This is also based on the MPC decision to convene a Jirga that includes elderly, parliamentarians and interested parties of each district.
According to CM Gandapur, a Grand Jirga, whose members will be nominated by the first jirga, would organize 15 days after that to devise a strategy to implement the MPC statement.
PTI resolution requires troops withdrawal, research commission
The KP chapter of the PTI convened an emergency meeting today, strongly condemning violence in Tirah and signing a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the region’s armed forces personnel.
“The Committee is of the unanimous opinion that the prolonged military deployment under article 245 (functions of the Armed Forces) of the Pakistan Constitution has created an environment where the power is not controlled and the responsibility is practically ineffective, which has led to the violation of fundamental rights and the interruption of local peace”, the resolution, observed by the view, observed by which it is seen through the view by the view by the view of the view by the view by the view by which it is seen by which it is seen by which crossing the past sight by which he is going through the view, observed by the view. Dawn.comread.
“The Committee firmly demands that the federal government cancels all notifications under article 245 within 15 days and formally announce the withdrawal of the military forces of the occupied districts,” the document added.
PTI members were ordered to present this resolution in Parliament and guarantee the support of other parliamentarians for approval. In addition, he instructed the general defender of the KP to move to the Supreme Court “to withdraw the court order of December 22, 2023, who has suspended the decision of the Superior Court of Peshawar that limits the scope of article 245”.
The PTI Committee also demanded the formation of an independent commission composed of retired judges and civil society members to investigate all recent incidents of violence, including Tirah shooting.
“The commission must submit a report within 30 days, identify those responsible and follow legal actions,” said the resolution.
Protest and shots
On Sunday, hundreds of tribes had brought the body of a girl, who according to them was killed in a mortar strike in the town of Darbar of Peer Mela in Zakhakhel a day before, to the headquarters of the brigade.
Ocular sources and witnesses said that the situation became violent when an angry mafia, which mostly includes young men, ignored the calls of local elders to keep calm.
First they set up an excavator staked outside the headquarters of the brigade, then tried to force their main door, after what the security personnel who protected the installation opened fire to control the crowd, according to the sources.
However, in a statement from his office, Prime Minister Shehbaz said that TTP’s terrorists were behind the incident while expressing their pain for the “martyrdom of innocent and peaceful civilians.” The statement, carried by the State Pakistan radio and ApplicationHe did not mention any protest.
He addressed the authorities to provide immediate medical assistance to the injured.
“The dire terrorist designs cannot shake our resolution,” said the prime minister, reaffirming the government’s commitment to eliminate terrorists and terrorism.
The videos that circulate on social networks showed an excavator in flames. Some protesters were also seen throwing stones at the headquarters of the brigade while trying to open the main door. In the footage, you could see the protesters running to cover themselves as the shots sounded.
The injured were transported to the Frontier Corps hospital in Shah Kas Jamrud, Dogram Hospital in the Bara medical complex and Hayatabad in Peshawar. It is said that one of the injured is in critical condition.
After the incident, the security officials met with a delegation of elders of Tirah at the headquarters of the Brigade and announced compensation for the victims for their demand. The KP government has also announced separate RS10 for the deceased and RS2.5m for the injured.
Security officials said that the local sector commander met with the elders of Tirah and assured them of their full support to meet their legitimate demands.
PTI MNA IQBAL Aphridi of Na-27 Khyber and MPA Abdul Ghani, while supporting the position of the protesters, have demanded a transparent judicial investigation into the incident. Legislators and their supporters also had a protest in Bab-I-Khyber in Jamrud yesterday against the shooting incident.
Residents in Peer Mela have affirmed that the bombardment of mortar for security forces so far has killed at least three people in the last 10 days. They claimed that the mortars were being fired when the security forces carried out operations against armed militant groups in the towns of Zakhakhel, Shalobar, Adakhel and Malakdin Khel.
Although a report on the mortar strike that was protesting, similar incidents in the Zakhakhel area took place in April of this year and December 2024, killing a child in each.
Recently, two children were killed on July 22 in an explosion of mortar shells in the town of Raghzai of the Tanques District, said Rescue 1122.
The tribal elders in Tirah and some other KP districts have long opposed any military operation, citing concerns about displacement.
Earlier this month, a massive concentration of La Paz activists from the Tirah Valley and Bara Tehsil of the Khyber’s tribal district opposed an imminent military operation in Tirah. Tribal elders have also ardently criticized terrorist groups, recently deciding not to pay any USHR (tax).
