At least 38 dead in gun attack on passenger vans in Pakistan

By Javid Hussain and Arif Hayat, Pakistan, Nov 21 (DAWN): At least 38 people were killed in a gun attack carried out on passenger vans in the lower Kurram area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday, according to the police.

Ahmady Shama Station House Officer Kaleem Shah told Dawn.com that 38 people were killed, including three women, and 11 were injured.

Earlier, Tehsil Head Quarters (THQ) Hospital Alizai Medical Superintendent Dr Muhammad Ishaq said 33 people were killed and 30 injured, adding that the latter was being referred to various hospitals in the district and some to Peshawar.

KP Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry told Reuters that “the death toll is likely to rise”.

President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the incident and expressed his condolences to the bereaved of the deceased.

“Attacking innocent passengers is a cowardly and inhumane act,” he was quoted as saying in a post on X by PPP’s media cell.

He added that those responsible for the incident should be punished. He urged that timely medical aid be provided to the injured.

KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur took strict notice of the incident and also condemned it.

He directed a delegation comprising the chief secretary, provincial law minister and the area’s MNA and MPA to visit Kurram immediately and personally assess the conditions there and submit a report.

The chief minister also called for the area’s jirga to be reactivated to improve the situation in Kurram.

The incident comes amid a sharp uptick in the number of terrorist attacks in Balochistan and KP.

Attacks escalated after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan outfit broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022 and vowed to target security forces.

Last month, two terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation in KP’s North Waziristan district.

Twelve security personnel were martyred after a checkpost was targeted in the Mali Khel area of KP’s Bannu, the military’s media affairs wing said a day ago.