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Friday February 28, 2025

Firing in Upper Kurram leaves assistant commissioner injured

Assistant commissioner was present in area alongside police when he was targeted, say law enforcement officials

By Ali Afzal Afzaal
January 31, 2025
Frontier Constabulary and army personnel gather in Kurram on January 17, 2025. — AFP
Frontier Constabulary and army personnel gather in Kurram on January 17, 2025. — AFP

UPPER KURRAM: Assistant Commissioner (AC) Saeed Manan sustained injuries after unidentified assailants opened fire on him in the Boshehra area of Upper Kurram, police said on Wednesday.

According to law enforcement officials, the assistant commissioner 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.

This incident follows a similar attack in Lower Kurram, where Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud was injured in a shooting earlier this month.

However, the peace efforts faced another obstacle today due to the attack on AC 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.