Parachinar, headquarter of Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), used to be a heaven on earth but for the last several years the area is facing a lot of threats from different militant groups and the continued violence has turned it into a hell.

Parachinar’s strategic location is very important as it is the closest point from Pakistan to Kabul and borders the Tora Bora region in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, where the influence of the Deobandi-Wahabi militant Daesh (ISIS) is growing.

It also shares borders to Khost and Paktia provinces in Afghanistan as well as with North Waziristan Agency and Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency, the known hub of Taliban militants.

The latest twin suicide blasts, which killed 75 people and injured 200 others, has created a strong sense of uncertainty among the local people. In their eight-day sit-in, the residents of Parachinar expressed concern over inappropriate security arrangements despite promises by the government in the past.

Hundreds of people have lost their lives and thousands of people have been injured in terrorism-related incidents in the valley since 2007.

Like the rest of the Pashtun-dominated areas, in Parachinar too, the security situation worsened with the establishment of Afghan refugees’ camps and jihadi groups’ centres during the Ziaul Haq era.

Later, those Afghan jihadi groups facilitated the Taliban militants in the region whose ideology is different from the local Shia population.

Recently, the ISIS claimed it had captured the Tora Bora from the Taliban which the Americans had captured from al-Qaeda in 2001. It was later recaptured by the Afghan forces.

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"The growing influence of ISIS will definitely increase security threats to the inhabitants of Parachinar," says Fakhar Kakakhel, a security expert on the region.

"Likewise, TTP and Haqqani Network have strong bases in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and North Waziristan’s Shawal and other areas of the agency, which are also threatening security situation of the Kurram Valley," he explains.

"The Parachinar conflict has its international dynamics. It is said that Iran is recruiting people from Parachinar while Saudi Arabia is also recruiting people from Pakistan and Afghanistan for the war in Syria. This will have a long-lasting impact on the security situation in the region," he says.

"We have witnessed that the local fighting between Taliban and Shia community has international repercussions, as thousands of workers, mostly drivers, were sent back from different countries of the Middle East on ideological basis," he adds.

"Shias and other religious minorities are targeted by Wahabi militants groups in Pakistan," says Shamim Shahid, a senior journalist based in Peshawar. "I see a very uncertain security situation as not only the Shia community of Parachinar will be in danger but also those living in Kohat, Bannu, Hangu, Dera Ismail Khan, and Peshawar," he points out. "The ISIS has a strong shura of 40 members, comprising militants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Chechnya," he adds.

Those who joined the ISIS shura are militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al-Qadea, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other extremist outfits. "In addition to TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, there are more anti-Shia actors and they have the ability to carry out attacks against the Shia community," he adds.

"Before September 11, clashes would take place between sectarian groups in the agency but the local administration would easily keep the situation under control," says Subhan Ali Turi, a local social activist. However, the security situation became worse when Taliban and al-Qadea established their stronghold in the Waziristan region. "After the war in 2007 in the region, the area was cut off from Pakistan and Taliban militants targeted the Shia community on Thall-Parachinar road for four consecutive years," he informs.

During this time, a large number of Taliban forces, both from Tirah Valley and North Waziristan Agency, continued attacking the local population in Alizai area in lower parts of the agency. Taliban militants kidnapped and killed several local elders.

Turi says sectarian violence in Parachinar is not indigenous. It was created by the external powers for their strategic interests in the region while creating proxies for the Cold War between the then USSR and United States.

The outdated political and administrative system of FCR, land disputes, low literacy rate, poor socio-economic situation, and religious extremism imported from Saudia Arabia and Iran are the causes of conflict between sectarian groups in the agency.

If Pakistan fails in maintaining peace in the region, the value of CPEC projects worth $ 62 billion will be in danger. The decades-long violence has destroyed education and local economic growth of the valley.

To ensure peace in Parachinar, the Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has announced a safe city project during his visit. He has also said that the menace of terrorism will be "crushed with unity". Pakistan has decided to completely fence its border with Afghanistan in two phases.