Rocket attack targets aid convoy in Pakistan's Kurram district amid sectarian unrest

Peshawar, Jan 16 (PTI) A convoy of 35 vehicles carrying food and medical supplies to Pakistan's Kurram district, hit by sectarian violence, was attacked by rockets on Thursday, officials said.
     After the attack, the miscreants also burnt some of the vehicles carrying the relief material to Parachinar in the Bagan Bazar area of the strife-torn district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
     Sectarian clashes between Shia and Sunni tribes have claimed at least 130 lives since November, with food and medicine shortages reported due to weeks-long road blockades in the region.
     A peace agreement was reached on January 1, but the route connecting Parachinar remained blocked.
     Officials said rockets were fired from two sides on the aid convoy en route to Parachinar.
     Hangu Assistant Commissioner Saeed Mannan said the convoy comprising 35 vehicles had left from Thall and was on its way to Parachinar when it came under the rocket attack.
     “The administration is working to bring the situation under control," he said.
     Four security personnel were injured in the attack, officials said.
     After the attack on the convoy, the miscreants also burnt some of the vehicles, they said.
     A senior security official from Peshawar said four vehicles were damaged in the attack, while the rest of the convoy has been safely evacuated and reached a point of safety crossing Chapri.
     On Monday, Mohammad Ali Saif, adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information, said that under the peace agreement, the demolition of bunkers had begun in the Kurram district.
     On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the situation in Kurram was “returning to normal”.
     On January 4, a government convoy was attacked near Bagan, injuring Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)