‘Kurram aid convoy ambush': Bodies of four missing drivers found

• Attack damaged three vehicles of convoy.
• Six attackers killed in forces' retaliation.
• Goods-laden convoy halted after terrorism incident.

Bodies of four of five drivers, who went missing after yesterday’s terrorist attack on an aid convoy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's restive Kurram district, were found in Aravali, police confirmed on Friday.

The terrorists' ambush targeted a convoy of 33 vehicles set to resupply local traders in the Kurram region with rice, flour and cooking oil, and two aid vehicles carrying essential medicine.

According to police officials, the drivers’ bodies have been shifted to Lower Kurram Alizai hospital for medico-legal formalities.

In addition to this, at least six bodies have been found in the Bagan area of Kurram since yesterday, the police officials added.   

Earlier today, the death toll of security personnel in the terrorist attack rose to two, officials confirmed.

Trader representatives said that after the attack, the trucks were looted and set ablaze.

It is worth noting that one personnel had been martyred during the attack yesterday, while retaliatory action by security forces resulted in the killing of six assailants.

Kurram Additional Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Ali said that the attack damaged three vehicles in the convoy.

In the first phase of the third convoy's journey, 35 goods-laden vehicles, carrying medicines, vegetables, fruits, and other essential supplies, had been dispatched,

A substantial security detail, including police, Frontier Corps (FC), and other security forces, had been deployed for protection.

Following the terrorism incident, the convoy transporting goods to Kurram was halted and sent back for safety.

It was a major setback to the peace agreement that finally allowed aid to be sent to the restive region which remained in the spotlight for months following a wave of tribal violence that claimed over 130 lives and resulted in the closure of routes for over 100 days.

So far, only two consignments of aid for Kurram could be dispatched during the last two weeks, with the latest one to reach the tribal region on January 14.

The residents complain that the aid that had been delivered goods were "not good enough", while the helicopter service for patient transfers from Kurram also remains suspended for the past 10 days. 

Despite a peace deal reached between the warring tribes under the negotiations facilitated by the Grand Jirga, the Kurram Peace Committee, and local peace groups, the situation remains precarious in the district.