Pakistani town erupts in protest after terrorists kill scores of Shia Muslims
Pakistani protesters have taken to the streets in the border town of Parachinar, demanding more efforts by the Islamabad government and law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order across the country.
Scores of Shia travelers were killed in a terrorist attack on a van convoy near Parachinar on Thursday.
Media reports on Friday said the deadly Parachinar incident has sparked outrage across the country, with many calling for stronger measures to ensure the safety of civilians across restive regions in Pakistan.
Local officials and residents in Parachinar said the situation remains tense with all markets, education institutions, transport and other businesses in the town closed.
A police officer who asked not to be named said hundreds of angry citizens had gathered in the main bazaar, and that the situation was highly volatile.
At least 42 people, some of them women, were killed, with dozens more wounded, some of them in critical condition, as passengers riding in a van convoy headed from Parachinar to Peshawar were ambushed. All the victims targeted in the gunfire were Shias.
As of yet, no group or individuals claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. In the past, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) carried out numerous such attacks.
Parachinar is the capital of the Kurram District in Pakistan’s resistive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan.
It is located west of Peshawar and leads into the Paktia, Logar and Nangarhar provinces of eastern Afghanistan.
The Shia Muslim community has demanded an end to the ongoing killings of the minority group in Pakistan.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a letter of condolences on Thursday, expressed sympathy with the Pakistani government and nation, as well as the bereaved families of the victims of the attack in Pakistan’s mountainous northwestern region.
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