Govt official, four others injured in ambush on convoy in Pakistan’s Kurram district

A government official and four other civilians were injured on Friday when gunmen ambushed a convoy in Pakistan’s violence-hit Kurram district, officials said.

Assistant Commissioner Upper Kurram Syed Manan and the other injured were rushed to DHQ Hospital Parachinar for treatment. Among the wounded were Gul Ali and Abbas Ali, according to the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) control room and hospital sources.

Authorities said the assistant commissioner and his delegation were on a peace mission in Upper Kurram when their convoy came under attack. The district administration had recently brokered a ceasefire between two tribes, and the group was visiting the area to continue negotiations.

Security forces, including army and Frontier Corps personnel, arrived at the scene to restore order.

The attack comes amid ongoing unrest in Kurram. In November, gunmen targeted a convoy in Lower Kurram’s Bagan area, killing more than 40 people and igniting fresh clashes over decades-old land disputes. Since then, at least 130 more people have been killed.

The violence forced the closure of a key road for weeks, leading to shortages of essential goods and medicines in Upper Kurram’s Parachinar.

A ceasefire deal was signed on Jan. 1, but recent attacks on both a government convoy and an aid convoy have put the fragile truce at risk.

History of conflict

Kurram, a volatile region along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, has long been a hotspot for sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shia communities.

The crisis escalated on Nov. 21, 2024, when an attack on a convoy traveling from Parachinar to Peshawar killed 43 people. Retaliatory violence left over 150 dead, more than 200 injured, and resulted in the closure of the main highway.

By December, the blockade had caused severe shortages, with health officials reporting the deaths of 31 children due to a lack of medicines. The crisis sparked nationwide protests, especially within Pakistan’s Shia community.

In January, a 14-point peace agreement aimed at resolving land disputes and enforcing disarmament was finalized by the Kurram Grand Jirga. Despite these efforts, violence persisted, delaying aid convoys and triggering further military operations.

On Jan. 17, following a deadly attack on a 35-vehicle convoy carrying food supplies, the government announced an operation targeting militants in Bagan area.

Tensions escalated again with the arrest of Shia community leader Muzamil Hussain Agha on January 24, and a grand jirga meeting ended without resolution on January 25 after one party's boycott.