KP govt says CM ‘in contact’ with administration over Tirah shooting

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday said Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was “in contact” with the relevant administration over the incident of protesters being shot in Khyber district’s Tirah Valley.

Seven people were shot on Sunday after a demonstration outside the Brigade Headquarters in Bagh-Maidan Markaz against the death of a minor girl in a mortar strike in Tirah’s Zakhakhel.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “firing on peaceful citizens by khawarij” — a term the state uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). However, according to sources and protesters, security personnel guar­ding the installation reportedly had opened fire to control the crowd.

Besides the seven killed, at least 16 others also received bullet injuries, sources said. There has been no official statement from the local administration or the military about the mortar strike or Sunday’s killings.

“The chief minister is in constant contact with the relevant administration,” CM Gandapur’s public relations adviser, Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, said in a statement today.

He said the KP chief minister was “monitoring” the Tirah incident himself. “The KP government is extremely saddened over the incident,” Saif added.

“The provincial government is standing side by side with the affected families in this moment of sorrow and grief,” the official asserted.

Saif also again slammed the KP opposition parties for not attending a multi-party conference (MPC) held last week over the security situation in the province, stressing that the moot had been organised “to prevent such incidents”.

The statement recalled that the provincial government will be holding a series of jirgas with tribal elders next week, including one in Peshawar. This is also based on the MPC’s decision to convene a jirga comprising elders, parliamentarians and stakeholders from each district.

According to CM Gandapur, a grand jirga, whose members will be nominated by the first jirga, would be organised 15 days after that to devise a strategy to implement the MPC’s declaration.

PTI resolution demands troop withdrawal, investigative commission

The PTI’s KP chapter convened an emergency meeting today, strongly condemning the violence in Tirah and signing a resolution demanding the withdrawal of armed forces personnel from the region.

“The committee is of the unanimous view that the prolonged military deployment under Article 245 (functions of armed forces) of the Constitution of Pakistan has created an environment where power is uncontrolled and accountability is practically ineffective, which has led to the violation of fundamental rights and the disruption of local peace,” the resolution, seen by media.com, read.

“The committee strongly demands that the federal government cancel all notifications under Article 245 within 15 days and formally announce the withdrawal of military forces from the occupied districts,” the document added.

PTI members were ordered to present this resolution in parliament and ensure support from other parliamentarians for its passage. Additionally, it instructed the KP advocate general to move the Supreme Court “to withdraw the injunction order of December 22, 2023, which has suspended the Peshawar High Court decision limiting the scope of Article 245”.

The PTI committee also demanded the formation of an independent commission made up of retired judges and civil society members to investigate all recent incidents of violence, including the Tirah shooting.

“The commission should submit a report within 30 days, identify those responsible and pursue legal action,” the resolution read.

Protest and shooting

On Sunday, hundreds of tribesmen had brought the body of a girl, who they claimed was killed in a mortar strike in the Darbar locality of Peer Mela in Zakhakhel a day earlier, to the Brigade Headquarters.

Sources and eye-witnesses said the situation turned violent when an angry mob, comprising mostly young men, ignored calls by local elders to remain calm.

They first torched an excavator parked outside Brigade Headquarters, then tried to force open its main gate, following which security personnel guar­ding the installation reportedly opened fire to control the crowd, according to sources.

However, in a statement from his office, PM Shehbaz said TTP terrorists were behind the incident as he expressed his grief over the “martyrdom of innocent and peaceful civilians”. The statement, carried by state-run Radio Pakistan and APP, did not mention any protest.

He directed the authorities to provide immediate medical assistance to the injured.

“The nefarious designs of terrorists cannot shake our resolve,” the premier asserted, reaffirming the government’s commitment to eliminate terrorists and terrorism.

Videos circulating on social media showed an excavator on fire. Some protesters were also seen pelting stones at the Brigade Headquarters while trying to forcibly open the main gate. In the footage, protesters could be seen running for cover as gunshots rang out.

The injured were transported to the Frontier Corps Hospital in Shah Kas Jamrud, Dogra Hospital in Bara and Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar. One of the injured is said to be in critical condition.

Following the incident, security officials met with a delegation of Tirah elders at Brigade Headquarters and announced compensation for the victims on their demand. The KP government has also announced separate Rs10 million for the deceased and Rs2.5m for the injured.

Security officials said the local sector commander met with the Tirah elders and assured them of his full support in meeting their legitimate demands.

PTI MNA Iqbal Afridi from NA-27 Khyber and MPA Abdul Ghani, while backing the protesters’ stance, have demanded a transparent judicial enquiry into the incident. The lawmakers and their supporters also held a protest at Bab-i-Khyber in Jamrud yesterday against the shooting incident.

Residents in Peer Mela have claimed that mortar shelling by security forces has so far killed at least three persons over the last 10 days. They claimed that mortars were being fired as security forces conducted operations against armed militant groups in Zakhakhel, Shalobar, Adakhel and Malakdin Khel localities.

While a report on the mortar strike that was being protested could not be found, similar incidents in the Zakhakhel area took place in April this year and December 2024, killing a child in each.

Recently, two children were killed on July 22 in a mortar shell blast in Raghzai village of the Tank district, Rescue 1122 said.

Tribal elders in Tirah and some other KP districts have long opposed any military operation, citing concerns over displacement.

Earlier this month, a massive rally of peace campaigners from Tirah Valley and Bara tehsil of the Khyber tribal district opposed an imminent military operation in Tirah. Tribal elders have also ardently criticised terrorist groups, recently deciding not to pay them any ushr (tax).