Funeral prayers were held on Saturday morning for a policeman martyred in a firing incident a day earlier in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Kurram tehsil.

The policeman, Syed Ashiq Hussain, embraced martyrdom after he was shot at by a sniper while posted on security duty last evening, according to Superintendent of Police (SP) Operation Muhammad Abbas.

His funeral was held with official honours at the office of the Parachinar District Police Officer, after which he was buried in his native area of Noorki in Kurram district.

In attendance were SP Abbas, SP Investigation Mazhar Jahan, military leadership, and police personnel, who laid a wreath on the coffin which was draped in the national flag. They paid tribute to Hussain’s services.

Two of Hussain’s brothers were also martyred in previous terrorism incidents.

Kurram has been beset by intermittent flare-ups of violence between tribes that have been feuding for decades over lands. Most recently, at least 130 lives were lost in attacks and ensuing clashes since November, before a hard-won ceasefire agreement was brokered on January 1. However, attacks on government and aid convoys this month have put the fragile peace in peril.

The ceasefire suffered another major setback when Assistant Commissioner (Revenue) Saeed Manan, who was mediating to halt fresh clashes between the warring sides, was shot in the stomach and injured along with two others in a separate firing incident in the Bushehra area of the restive district yesterday.

Manan underwent surgery at DHQ hospital and was later transferred to Peshawar via helicopter.

On Jan 4, an attack in the Bagan area injured Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud and six others. In a Jan 16 attack on a convoy in the same area, two security officials were martyred and five others injured. Retaliatory action by security forces left six attackers dead and 10 injured.

In response, authorities launched a limited “counter-terrorism operation” in Lower Kurram on Jan 19, which used gunship helicopters and concluded after four days.