The death toll from a suicide attack that ripped through Parachinar on Friday rose to 43 on Sunday. The bomber attacked a crowded market near an imambargah in Kurram Agency in one of the deadliest attacks in the restive area for years, officials said.
Kohat Commissioner Sahibzada Mohammad Anees told The Express Tribune that the number of deaths in the attack had risen and the injured were shifted to Peshawer for treatment.
Anees also added that a Grand Jirga of Shia and Sunni tribal elders from the Khyber, Orakzai and Kurram Agencies, that negotiated a peace treaty earlier, was being held to analyze the situation after the suicide attack.
“We are also looking into the incident that took place after the attack when the security personnel opened fire to maintain law and order,” added Anees.
Locals said that security forces, who rushed to the scene soon after the blast, opened fire to control the angry crowd, resulting in more casualties.
Earlier the jirga consisting of six tribes of the Turi and Bangash demanded that an inquiry should be launched against the security personnel for opening fire on the people after the blast. The jirga also criticised the government for its inability to maintain peace in the area.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 20th, 2012.
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Destabilise the land, inculcate divisions among the natives and then control and dominate the regions , is the strategy of the yanks! Pakistan must democratize the region; let the people run their affairs and not be controlled in a colonial style by commissioners and militaries sitting away from the people in cantonments. Pakistan needs elected city and village mayors who have the control over the police.
Rex Minor
PS Open up the border between Parachinar and Afghanistan!