Anger grows in Parachinar after three attacks in six months

Published
16

Members of the Shia community in Parachinar protested Monday as the death toll from twin blasts three days earlier rose to 72, marking a grisly Eid for the town worst hit by militancy so far in 2017.

Officials confirmed that five more injured of Friday’s blasts died in hospital, which pushed the death toll to 72. At least 10 others are said to be in precarious condition.

Dozens of protesters offered their Eid prayers wearing black armbands in the market in Parachinar, where the bombs tore through crowds of shoppers on Friday, local officials said.

Local administration official Basir Khan Wazir told AFP that officials were trying to negotiate with the protesters.

Parachinar, capital of Kurram Agency, a mainly Shia area in the tribal belt, had already suffered two deadly bomb blasts in its markets this year.

It was the site of the first major attack in Pakistan in 2017, when a bomb killed 24 people in January in an attack claimed by the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami and a splinter group of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led by Sheheryar Mehsud.

In March, a second attack in another market killed 22 people. The attack was claimed by the Jamaatul Ahrar.

Friday's assault ─ also claimed by the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami ─ brought the town's loss of life due to terror attacks up to 115, more than any one city in Pakistan has suffered so far this year.

“We have been a constant target of the Taliban but the government has always failed us,” Muzamil Hussain, an activist from Parachinar told AFP Friday.

Authorities have said that after the first two attacks, checkposts and barriers were set up around the city's markets.

“I don't understand how can someone drive a bomb-laden vehicle through all the checkposts of the military and other paramilitary troops and reach here, it simply isn't logical, and this is what we are protesting against,” he said.

The Parachinar blasts were the deadliest in a series of militant attacks across Pakistan Friday which killed at least 85 people, unnerving citizens ahead of Eid.

In Quetta at least 14 people including 10 policemen were killed in a blast targeting police that was claimed by both the militant Islamic State group and the Jamaatul Ahrar, and in Karachi four policemen were killed in a drive-by shooting as they opened their fast at a roadside restaurant.

Opinion

Editorial

Kashmir unresolved
Updated 30 Sep, 2026

Kashmir unresolved

The just solution lies in India addressing the issue through a trilateral dialogue involving the legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.
Water shortage
30 Sep, 2026

Water shortage

THAT the country is entering the Rabi season with an anticipated water shortage of nearly 25pc, the lowest carryover...
Young hearts
30 Sep, 2026

Young hearts

THE observance may have passed, but the message of World Heart Day should not fade with it. The occasion is a useful...
Terror and politics
Updated 29 Sep, 2026

Terror and politics

There is an urgent need to tone down the rhetoric and tackle terrorism as a collective challenge for both the affected provinces and the federation.
Watching the glaciers
29 Sep, 2026

Watching the glaciers

THE latest signs from Pakistan’s mountains are worrying. Suparco says the number of unfrozen glacial lakes it...
Dangerous agenda
29 Sep, 2026

Dangerous agenda

AS the world remains fixated on the US-Iran conflict, elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel is consolidating its grip...