Court petition seeks relief for district stranded by sectarian violence in northwestern Pakistan

A writ petition filed on Friday in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) seeks urgent intervention to restore basic services in Kurram, a remote district in northwestern Pakistan.

Residents have been cut off from food supplies, medicine, and communications for "two to three months" following deadly violence between Sunni and Shia Muslim communities.

The district, which sits along the mountainous Afghan border roughly 200 kilometers west of the capital Islamabad, has been effectively sealed off from the rest of the country.

The petition, filed by local advocate Mehmood Ali Turi, demands immediate restoration of road access, food supplies, and medical services to the district. The region has been isolated since violent clashes erupted first in July, again in September and most recently in November, leaving over 250 civilians dead and hundreds injured in total.

"There's not even a piece of rock salt available in the markets of Parachinar," Turi told Nuktaoutside the court, highlighting the severity of shortages in Kurram's main city. "If there's no petrol, how will children go to school?"

The petition seeks immediate measures to establish emergency supply routes, including the possibility of air transport through helicopters and the Parachinar airport.

'People are stuck'

The prolonged isolation has created a humanitarian crisis. Hospitals cannot receive medical supplies during the winter season when illness rates typically increase, and students are unable to leave the area for government examinations.

The petition names multiple respondents, including Pakistan's federal government, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, and the federal interior ministry. It also calls for the restoration of cellular services and internet access, which have been suspended since the violence began.

The legal filing represents a departure from previous initiatives that focused primarily on ending the sectarian conflict. It addresses the immediate humanitarian needs of a population that has been effectively cut off from the rest of Pakistan.

"The people of Kurram are stuck," Turi said. "We demand through our petition that food, fuel, and medicines should be provided through roads."

Background

The district's latest crisis began when gunmen attacked passenger vehicles on the Parachinar-Peshawar highway in November, killing 42 people, including women and children from the Shia community. The attack triggered widespread sectarian clashes that have effectively sealed off the region.

The case highlights the broader challenges facing Pakistan's border regions, where sectarian tensions often intersect with governance issues and basic service delivery. While security forces have managed to establish a fragile ceasefire, the petition argues that immediate action is needed to prevent a humanitarian disaster.

The court is expected to continue hearing the case next week, with advocates hoping for urgent directives to restore essential services and supplies to the isolated district.