Traders of Parachinar city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district observed a shutter-down strike on Tuesday against the months-long closure of the Parachinar-Thall Road amid a volatile security situation.
The Thall-Parachinar Road – the only thoroughfare leading to the city – has been closed since the Nov 21, 2024 attack on a convoy in the Bagan area that left more than 50 dead. Ensuing clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes claimed at least 130 more lives.
A ceasefire agreement was reached following months of conflict on January 1. However, the truce failed to result in peace and suffered setbacks after attacks continued on aid convoys, security personnel and government officials.
Haji Imdad Hussain, president of Parachinar Traders Union told the media that they observed the shutter-down strike to press their demand to reopen the road and make it safe for travel and trade.
“Those falling ill have to wait for death, as they neither have medicines nor can they travel to Peshawar for treatment,” he said, noting that Parachinar and its outskirts were facing shortages of food and medicines.
Traders also addressed a press conference in the city, which was attended by Imdad, Haji Asghar Hussain, Yousuf Hussain, Liaquat Kaka, Jaffar Hussain, and others.
They lamented that the roads to Parachinar had still not opened despite the peace agreement earlier this year. The traders alleged that large sums of money were demanded from them to have their trucks included in the aid convoys.
The traders called for inspections at checkposts to “bother people” to be reduced. They pledged to continue their protest till the routes were reopened.
Imdad, the trade union president, told the media there were no books available for schools, which started a new academic session in early March. He said children were going to schools without books, badly damaging their academic year.
The trader also lamented that petrol was being sold for Rs700-Rs1,000 in the black market as there was no fuel being supplied to the area.
No aid convoy has entered Parachinar since March 27 – before Eidul Fitr – according to Imdad. He added that more than 300 trucks loaded with supplies have been waiting between Hangu district’s Thall and Doaba cities for the past several weeks to be allowed into Parachinar.
Imdad claimed that traders were paying over Rs1 million in rent for one vehicle to transport their merchandise to Parachinar. “The vehicles are remaining parked along roads in Hangu for weeks at end, costing us Rs10,000 per day,” he said.
Convoys transporting food and medicine to the besieged area have been targeted in Lower Kurram, resulting in several casualties, as well as the looting and burning of trucks.
Late last month, tribal leaders in Kurram agreed on an eight-month peace agreement ahead of Eidul Fitr.
This came after the KP government had announced a fresh operation against militants in Kurram in February amid multiple attacks on security officials and aid convoys.
Teams from the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) and Pakistan International Airlines have also assessed Parachinar airport’s operational feasibility for commercial and humanitarian flights.