Peshawar: Five security personnel, including four from the Frontier Corps (FC) and one from the Pakistan Army, were martyred while protecting an aid convoy from militant attacks in Kurram district.
According to sources, on Monday afternoon, an aid convoy entered Lower Kurram via Chapri Gate under the protection of police and other security agencies. Around 12:30 PM, near Mandori in Ochat Kali, militants opened fire on the convoy, prompting security personnel to retaliate. Two military gunship helicopters were deployed to target militant hideouts, and the exchange of fire continued for two hours.
In the initial attack, one army soldier was martyred, while seven people, including a police officer, two truck drivers, and four civilians, sustained injuries.
Later, at approximately 6:00 PM, militants launched a second assault as security forces attempted to prevent the looting of stranded aid trucks. During this attack, the militants targeted a Frontier Corps officer’s vehicle, injuring five security personnel. The officer remained unharmed.
Around 8:30 PM, a Quick Response Force (QRF) convoy from the Frontier Corps, dispatched to evacuate the injured, was ambushed near the Government High School in Ochat Kali. In the ensuing exchange of fire, four FC personnel were martyred, and three vehicles were damaged. It remains unclear how many militants were killed or injured in the confrontation.
In response to the deadly assaults, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced a new military operation against militants in the region. The fresh violence has disrupted a fragile peace established last month after months of conflict that claimed hundreds of lives.
The Thall–Parachinar road, the only land route connecting Upper Kurram to the rest of the country, remains closed due to ongoing militant attacks. Since the ceasefire earlier this year, aid convoys have been delivering supplies to the region under heavy security protection.
Truck drivers claimed that announcements for attack were made via loudspeakers from local mosques and reported that several drivers remain missing.
Last month, security forces launched an operation to clear militant strongholds in areas such as Mandori, Ochat, Char Khel, Chapri, and Parachinar. Helicopters were used to target suspected hideouts during the multi-day operation.
Provincial government officials believe that some militants remain active in the region. According to sources, militants in both Upper and Lower Kurram are attempting to exploit the situation, with a local militant commander, identified as Kazim, reportedly seeking to sabotage the peace agreement.
Meanwhile, in separate incidents, two security personnel and a civilian were killed in roadside bomb blasts in Dera Ismail Khan and Bajaur.
In Dera Ismail Khan’s Kulachi area, two security personnel were martyred when their vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED). The explosion completely destroyed their vehicle. Security forces launched a search operation, but no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
In Bajaur’s Barang tehsil, a 57-year-old man, identified as Wilayat Khan, was killed in another IED blast in a mountainous area.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has not released a statement on the incidents, but security operations are ongoing in the affected regions.
