People in Bagan start surrendering firearms

People of Lower Kurram started surrendering their firearms to authorities amid a law enforcement agencies (LEA) operation that entered its third day on Tuesday.

According to sources, police collected arms from Bagan and its adjoining areas where the operation is currently taking place. They said the operation continued in the area on Tuesday during which forces used heavy artillery and helicopter gunships to target hideouts of alleged miscreants.

They said all the routes leading to Bagan had been closed by the LEAs and military and no one was allowed to enter the area.

Sectarian tensions escalated in Kurram district in November last year after an attack on a convoy that was travelling from Parachinar to Peshawar. In the ensuing violence, around 150 people lost their lives.

However, on January 1 the warring tribesmen signed a deal under the auspices of a tribal Jirga in Kohat.

Under the peace agreement, local residents pledged to surrender their weapons to the state in different phases within 15 days while the dismantling of local bunkers is to be completed by February 2025.

However, on January 4, a convoy of former Kurram deputy commissioner Javedullah Mehsud came under attack near the Bagan area, resulting in injuries to the official and six members of his escort.

On January 13, the provincial government dismantled two bunkers out of hundreds established by the two warring factions but on January 16 unidentified gunmen launched a rocket attack on a convoy of 35 vehicles carrying fruits, vegetables, medicines, and other essential items from Thall to the Bagan area.

The miscreant also abducted a number of people who were part of the convoy and a day later dead bodies of six of them were discovered in the Aravali area of Kurram with hands and feet bound.

The authorities started an operation against miscreants on Sunday after a high-level meeting in Peshawar. Operations against miscreants continued for the second consecutive day.

Condemning the ongoing operation, a tribal elder from Bagan, Malik Iqbal Badshah, stated the rival group looted and then set fire to Bagan on November 22 which sparked communal tension.

"Now the government has also started an operation against the same people while also collecting their weapons," he lamented. He said heavy firearms were also confiscated from the area in 2007 and 2013.

A resident of Bagan, Muhammad Afzal, said the people of Bagan are staging a protest at Mandori. "We demand that the people who suffered losses during a tribal raid in November be compensated and those responsible for attacking and ransacking Bagan be brought to justice," he said.