TIRAH VALLEY – Blood was spilled and tempers flared in restive Tirah Valley as what started as protest against strikes spiraled into violent confrontation between residents and state. Eyewitnesses report that shots rang out when locals approached gates of a Frontier Corps (FC) compound, leaving multiple people dead or critically injured.
The troubled valley which has long held strategic importance, is safe haven and battleground for various militant factions, and this remote yet crucial corridor linking Afghanistan to Pakistan witnessed intense fighting between Pakistani military and armed rebels.
Recent violence started when mortar shell attack killed two children in Raghzai village, Tank district. The tragedy sparked outrage and a mass protest demanding justice and accountability.
As grieving families blocked Tank–South Waziristan road, hundreds of locals marched to the FC compound in Tirah.
After the incident, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the carnage, linking attack to militants from banned TTP, also called Fitna-al-Khawarij, calling for immediate medical relief and vowed, “Such cowardly acts will not shake our national resolve.”
A high-level jirga was convened with military, civil officials, and local elders. Brigadier Muhammad Qasim, Security Forces Commandant, vowed investigation, confirming that the individual behind the mortar strike had been identified and action was in progress, Dawn reported.
To cool down the matter, authorities announced Rs1.5 million for each person killed as compensation.
Rs250,000 for each injured individual, free treatment at Shah Kas FC hospital while Martyr package if any injured later succumbs to injuries.
