Parachinar suicide attack: Political agent accused of ignoring leads

Blast claimed lives of at least 24 persons

PARACHINAR: A National Assembly lawmaker accused on Sunday the local political administration of inaction despite receiving concrete information about the intentions and appearances of terrorists involved in the recent bomb attack in the Parachinar Agency.

The blast claimed the lives of at least 24 persons in addition to injuring 136 others.

MNA Sajid Hussain Turi said that over the past several decades, his community was repeatedly being targeted. He said that perpetrators of atrocities against members of his community remained safe.



“Sketches of bombers were finalised soon after the attack and their facilitators were identified by intelligence officials, but the Political Agent and his support staff did nothing for arresting the culprits,” Turi said.

Accusing the political agent of using his official clout to facilitate smuggling, he said that he (the political agent) was not interested in keeping the people living in the tribal agency safe.

“The political agent kept elected members of parliament in the dark when the governor and the corps commander visited the agency.



“Even media persons were not aware of their visit. If we had known about visits of these dignitaries, we would have asked the governor to remove the political agent from office … We would have pursued this matter at the highest level,” Turi said.

Urging the army chief to bring all levies personnel belonging to the agency, he said that these men knew how to maintain peace in the tribal agency.

He also requested the governor to enhance the aid package for the heirs of those who died in Friday’s blast.

MNA Sajid Turi also criticised the Afghan missile attacks in Pakistani area and asked the Afghan authorities to stop bombing Parachinar.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2017.