LANDI KOTAL:
Five people lost their lives and 17 others were injured when shots were fired during a protest outside a military facility in the Tirah Valley, Khyber District. The demonstration was sparked by the death of a 10-year-old girl, according to tribal elders.
The protest came to an end following negotiations between tribal leaders and security officials. Both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the incident that occurred in the Bagh Maidan area.
The unrest began after the young girl’s death a day earlier. On Sunday morning, her relatives and local residents gathered outside the Brigade Headquarters gate to protest, chanting slogans and setting a dispensary ablaze. During the protest, gunfire erupted, killing three people instantly. Two more later died from their injuries en route to the hospital.
Police said 17 people were taken to a local medical facility. Six were later shifted to hospitals in Peshawar, and seven others were moved to Orakzai district.
The injured were identified as Ajmal, Abdul Halim, Ayub Khan, Siraj, Jartaj, Baitullah, Aamir Hassan, Rehmanullah, Muhammad Sadiq, Nazar Muhammad, Abu Bakar (all from Zakhakhel), Khan Zeb and Muhammad Javed (from Shlobar), and Sher Zaman, Qasim, and Saeed Khan (from Malk Din Khel).
Tribal elders met with security forces, putting forward several demands: accountability for those responsible for the girl’s death, evacuation of occupied local homes, an end to excessive harassment at security checkpoints, and financial aid for victims’ families.
Security officials agreed to provide Rs1.5 million in compensation to each deceased victim’s family and Rs200,000 to each injured person. After reaching a partial agreement, the protest was called off and calm started to return.
In Islamabad, Prime Minister Sharif expressed sorrow over the deaths of peaceful civilians, calling them martyrs and instructing authorities to ensure the injured receive immediate treatment.
Chief Minister Gandapur also voiced deep regret over the Tirah incident. He announced Rs10 million in aid for each deceased victim’s family and Rs2.5 million for the injured. He called a Jirga in Peshawar involving tribal elders and public representatives to address local concerns and ordered stronger public engagement by officials.
Gandapur added that a series of Jirgas will begin next week at both divisional and provincial levels. Lawmakers Iqbal Afridi and Abdul Ghani Afridi also condemned the incident.
