Armed attackers hit passenger convoys in north-western Pakistanʼs tribal region on nov-21‚ causing heavy loss of life in the border-area (which has seen long-term religious disagreements)
The assault took place in Kurram district where gun-men targeted two groups of vehicles moving between cities. Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry‚ the regions chief-secretary shared info about 38 dead and 29 hurt people; including a child and woman among victims
Its a major tragedy and death toll is likely to rise
Local person Ziarat Hussain told about his family members who were in the vehicles going from Peshawar to Parachinar when the shooting started. The dual-direction convoys got caught in cross-fire on the mountain-road
The area near Afghan border has seen conflicts between:
- Shia community members
- Sunni community members
- Local tribal groups
President Asif Ali Zardari made a strong-worded statement against this attack‚ but no group said they did it. The land-dispute between different religious groups in this far-off area has been going on for many years; making travel risky for local people