After days long uncertainty surrounding the delivery of supplies, the first convoy carrying food and relief items reached crisis-hit Parachinar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district on Wednesday.
Kurram Deputy Commissioner Ashfaq Khan issued a video statement saying that the peaceful arrival of the aid convoy is welcomed. He also urged the people cooperate with the law enforcement agencies and maintain peace.
KP government’s spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said that the 40 vehicles carrying relief items had been dispatched after successful negotiations with local protesters.
The Grand Jirga, Kurram Peace Committee and local peace committees played a key role in the negotiations, said the spokesperson.
The development comes after the Parachinar aid convoy, which was scheduled to be sent last week, was stalled following an attack on Kurram DC Javedullah Mehsud in the Bagan area which resulted in five people being wounded along with the DC.
Following the attack, Barrister Saif said that the convoy will be sent once the conditions are back to normal.
The development came against the backdrop of an acute shortage of medicines and other essential items in the district which was declared “disaster hit” last month by the KP government amid tribal clashes which have resulted in over 200 fatalities since July 2024.
The prolonged road closures, attributed to security concerns by the provincial government, have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis faced by Kurram’s over 600,000 residents.
The convoy’s departure came after the two warring tribes signed a peace agreement on Wednesday last week aimed at establishing peace.
The 14-point accord requires the surrendering of weapons as well as the dismantlement of bunkers with a committee set to be constituted within 15 days — to be counted from the day of the signing of the peace deal — to start implementing the agreement.
