Five people have been killed and seventeen people were killed during protests in Tirah Valley. Protesters demonstrating against counter-terrorism operations in the province were fired upon in Mohammad Ghaw’s area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tira Valley on Sunday. Earlier this week, two children were killed by a mortar shell in Raghazai village in Tank district.
Following the incident, the grieving families and residents of the area protested by blocking the Tank South Waziristan Road, demanding immediate identification and actions against those responsible.
According to Suhail Afridi, Special Assistant for KP Communications and Work, there had been an incident a day prior where a mortar struck a house and killed a young girl, prompting local residents to protest in front of the Frontier Corps’ compound today.
5 people have reportedly died and 17 others sustained injuries when protesters were fired upon during a protest outside a military installation against the killing of the girl. The protest ended after negotiations between tribal leaders and security officials.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the shooting at the Bagh Maidan area of Tera Valley. Tensions gripped the area after the death of a 10-year-old girl the other day. Following the incident, the victim’s relatives and local citizens reached the main gate of the brigade headquarters on Sunday morning to protest. The protesters shouted slogans against the incident and set a dispensary on fire.
In the meantime, a shooting broke out in which three people died on the spot. Later, two more injured succumbed to their wounds while on their way to the hospital. Police said that 17 injured people were taken to a local hospital, but six of them were later shifted to Peshawar Hospital. Later, the tribal leaders met with security officials and presented their demands.
They demanded that the case be registered against those involved in the death of the girl. Vacation of the occupied houses of local citizens due to unnecessary harassment of the security checkposts, and financial assistance to the families of the deceased.
The security forces agreed to Rs. 1.5 million compensation to the families of each deceased and Rs. 200,000 assistance to each injured. After a partial agreement on the demands of the protesters ended the protest and the situation started to return to normalcy. In Islamabad, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif briefed over the incident and accused Fitna al-Khawraj and directed the authorities concerned to provide immediate medical assistance to the injured.
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KP Chief Minister also announced financial assistance of Rs. 10 million for the heirs of each deceased and Rs. 2.5 million for each injured. The Chief Minister also called a Peshawar Jirga consisting of tribal leaders and public representatives so that local sentiments and concerns could be heard.
He directed the district administration and the institutions to strengthen public communication and maintain order. He also said that the series of Jirgas tribal leaders would start from next week at the divisional and then provincial levels. National Assembly members from the area, Iqbal Afridi and KP Assembly member Abdul Ghani Afridi, have also condemned the incident.