- Terrorists will not be spared under any circumstances, nor will anyone be allowed to disturb regional peace: RPO Marwat
ISLAMABAD: At least six people were killed on Wednesday when a passenger vehicle came under fire in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district, police confirmed.
Regional Police Officer (RPO) Kohat Abbas Majeed Marwat said unknown assailants ambushed the vehicle in a rural area of Lower Kurram. The attackers fled the scene after the assault.
Police and security forces immediately launched a large-scale search operation. So far, 12 suspects have been detained, and a cache of weapons recovered. Heavy contingents of law enforcement personnel are carrying out house-to-house searches to trace those responsible.
“This tragic incident will not go unpunished. Terrorists will not be spared under any circumstances, nor will anyone be allowed to disturb regional peace,” RPO Marwat vowed in a statement.
Kurram District Police Officer Malik Habib Khan said the victims’ bodies had been shifted to a hospital while investigations were underway.
The incident drew widespread condemnation as member of the National Assembly (MNA) Hameed Hussain termed it “an attempt to disrupt the peace of the area” and questioned how such an attack could occur despite security check posts on the highway.
Haji Zamin Hussain, secretary of Anjuman-e-Hussainia Parachinar, also condemned the assault. “We are shocked as people of Kurram have been martyred,” he said, calling for severe punishment of the perpetrators and urging unity to preserve peace.
The attack comes despite recent reconciliation efforts. Kurram has long been marred by tribal violence over land disputes, which claimed more than 130 lives last year. A ceasefire was reached in January, followed by a year-long peace deal signed in July between the Lower Kurram and Sadda tribes.
However, sporadic violence persists.
In April, three people were killed and several others went missing when unidentified gunmen attacked travellers from Parachinar to Peshawar in the Bagan area of Lower Kurram, sparking protests across the district.
