Assistant commissioner injured in Upper Kurram firing

• Manan was rushed to hospital for medical treatment.
• Grand jirga has commenced at the Commissioner House.
• Jirga includes military officials, members of peace committee.

UPPER KURRAM: The assistant commissioner (AC) of Boshehra, situated in Upper Kurram, was injured as a result of firing by unidentified attackers, police said on Friday, the latest setback to peace efforts in the restive region.

A pact was finally agreed upon in the Kurram region last month after warring tribes agreed to ensure peace, but the agreement suffered a blow after Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud was injured in a firing incident.

However, after law enforcers' efforts, peace was restored and essential supplies also started coming into Kurram, which was cut off from the rest of the country for months.

The peace efforts faced another obstacle today due to the attack on AC Saeed Manan. According to law enforcers, Manan was present in the area alongside the police when he was targeted.

He was immediately shifted to a hospital for medical treatment. Following the attack, a heavy contingent of police launched a search operation to track down the perpetrators.

Simultaneously, a grand jirga has commenced at the Commissioner House in Kohat to establish lasting peace in Kurram.

Adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, is attending the jirga. Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry and Inspector General Zulfiqar Hameed are also present at the gathering.

The jirga includes military officials, members of the peace committee, and tribal elders representing both parties from Upper and Lower Kurram.

Earlier on January 16, a soldier was martyred while six terrorists were killed after security forces retaliated to an attack on an aid convoy carrying essential goods for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's violence-marred district of Kurram.

Amid ongoing efforts to bring normalcy back to the district, following a peace agreement between warring tribes, a senior official of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government earlier this week vowed that the agreement would be implemented "at any cost".

"Implementation on the peace agreement will be possible with the cooperation of both parties [following the truce called on January 1]," said KP Chief Secretary Chaudhry.

Meanwhile, the local residents started to recently experience some relief as the prices of essential food items had started to ease following the arrival of aid convoys.

The price fall had come amid ongoing efforts to alleviate the hardships caused by prolonged route closures and supply shortages.

The recent arrival of a large vehicle carrying vegetables further reduced prices in the local markets.