RAWALPINDI: Explosive material stored in a house, currently under the use of Khwarij in Tirah Valley at Pak-Afghan border of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, exploded on Monday, killing 24 people, including at least 14 Khwarij and 10 civilians.
Police sources said bomb-making material was stored at a hideout by Pakistani Taliban terrorists in Tirah Valley, which exploded and killed at least 24 people, including terrorists and civilians.
The blast also destroyed several nearby houses. Local police sources said that 10 civilians, including women and children, were killed, along with at least 14 terrorists. “Hideout of Khwarij and many slum houses around it collapsed due to explosion,” the police sources said.
Local Police Officer Zafar Khan said that two local commanders of Khwarij namely Aman Gul and Masood Khan had established hideouts in the compound, which was being used as a factory for producing improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
He accused terrorists of using civilians as human shield in the violence-ridden area, while weapons were also hidden in mosques. Pakistan’s security forces are carrying out operations against the Indian-sponsored terrorists in Khyber, Bajaur and other parts of the northwest.
Sources said reputed international media organisations like Associated Press and Arab News were reporting the incident as per facts. However, the Indian media distorted facts to malign Pakistan’s security forces. “This is regrettable that some anti-state social media accounts, following in the footsteps of the Indian media, are also active negatively,” the sources added.
According to another report, filed by the local correspondent, twenty-one people were killed in an alleged aerial bombing in the Akakhel area of Tirah Valley in Khyber tribal district on Monday.
According to the sources, the bombing targeted two houses in the Shadaley area of Akakhel. As a result, 21 people, including six women, three men, and 12 children, were killed in the airstrike.
Soon after the incident, local residents rushed to the site and launched a rescue operation to retrieve the bodies from the debris. Funeral prayers for the deceased were offered and attended by thousands of people.
Speaking to reporters, Tehsil Chairman Mufti Kafeel Afridi confirmed that 21 people, including six women, three men, and 12 children, had been killed in the bombing in Tirah. Meanwhile, Bara Seyasi Ittehad and local elders staged a protest and blocked the Pak-Afghan Highway against the incident.
Member National Assembly Iqbal Afridi, Member Provincial Assembly Abdul Ghani Afridi, Bara Seyasi Ittehad President Hashim Afridi, Awami National Party (ANP) Bara President Abdur Razzaq Afridi, Shireen Afridi, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl’s Maulana Mustaqeem, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ameer Shah Faisal Afridi, Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sher Shah Afridi, Pakistan Awami Inqilabi League President Attaullah Afridi, and others spoke on the occasion.
Meanwhile, the killing of more than 20 people in remote Tirah Valley also echoed in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday when a cabinet member claimed that shelling by security forces had caused civilian casualties.
Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Communication and Works Muhammad Sohail Afridi, who was elected from Khyber district, while speaking on a point of order, said that jet fighters had targeted the civilian population in Tirah Valley the previous night, killing about 25 people, including women, children, and elderly persons.
“The Pakhtuns are true and loyal citizens of Pakistan and such steps will only create hatred,” he said, demanding an inquiry into the Tirah killings. Speaker Babar Saleem Swati presided over the assembly session where, for the first time, the national anthem was played soon after the recitation from the Holy Quran. Under the new rules, the anthem will be played at the start of each assembly sitting.
The session also witnessed a heated debate and exchange of harsh words between treasury and opposition benches over relief and rehabilitation activities in flood- and rain-affected areas of the province. The opposition parties accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf provincial government of deliberately delaying distribution of relief goods in flood-hit areas of Buner, Swat, and Abbottabad.
They said the Provincial Disaster Management Authority had failed to serve the affected people during natural disasters, including the recent floods and rains.
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) MPAs from Shangla and Abbottabad added that the recent rains and floods had destroyed houses, crops, and other properties in Mardan, Abbottabad, and Haripur. They demanded compensation for the affected people and called for their areas to be declared calamity-hit.
Provincial Minister for Agriculture Muhammad Sajjad rejected the allegations, terming them political point-scoring. He claimed that the provincial government had released substantial funds for relief and rehabilitation in Buner, Swat, and other affected districts.
Meanwhile, a delegation from Tirah, Khyber district, called on KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur at the Chief Minister’s House on Monday. The meeting was also attended by MNA Iqbal Afridi, Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Muhammad Abid Majeed, commissioner of Peshawar, and other relevant officials, said a handout.
The meeting reviewed the law and order situation in the wake of the recent incident in Tirah and expressed deep sorrow over the loss of innocent lives. Fateha was offered for the deceased. The chief minister announced financial assistance of Rs10 million for each victim family.
It was decided that a grand jirga comprising elected representatives of the area, political leaders, and local elders would soon meet with senior military officials to finalise a joint strategy for ensuring peace in the region.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed shock over killing of a number of civilians, including children, allegedly as a result of bombing in Tirah Valley of Khyber district. “We demand that the authorities carry out an immediate and impartial inquiry into the incident and hold to account those responsible,” said a statement issued on Monday. “The state is constitutionally bound to protect all civilians’ right to life, which it has repeatedly failed to secure,” added the statement.
