The death toll in yesterday’s gun attack on passenger vans in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Kurram has risen to 42, while more than 30 people were injured, the local deputy commissioner said on Friday.

Kurram Deputy Commissioner (DC) Javedullah Mehsud confirmed the casualties to Dawn.com, adding that the deceased included seven women and a nine-year-old girl.

Thursday’s attack had occurred in the Mandori Charkhel area, a region with a history of sectarian tensions and land disputes.

DC Mehsud said yesterday the convoy, consisting of some 200 vehicles, was on its way from Parachinar to Peshawar when it came under heavy gunfire. Separately, he had told AFP that two separate convoys of Shia passengers were targeted in two attacks.

Efforts were underway to save the lives of those injured, the DC said, stating the bodies of the deceased had been moved to Parachinar.

“We will try to restore the routine life as quickly as possible and then a grand jirga will be called,” DC Mehsud said, adding that schools and markets have been closed since the attack.

No group had immediately claimed responsibility for the incident.

Sources told Dawn that the attack, which occurred at around 1:20pm, appeared to be in retaliation for an Oct 12 assault that claimed 15 lives, including those of two women and a child. Local officials expressed concerns that the situation might escalate further, with tensions running high in the tribal district.

Ajmeer Hussain was among those attacked and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

“Gunfire suddenly erupted, and I started reciting my prayers, thinking these were my final moments,” Hussain, a 28-year-old victim being treated at a local hospital, told AFP.

“I laid down at the feet of the two passengers sitting next to me. Both of them were struck by multiple bullets and died instantly,” he added. “The shooting lasted for about five minutes.”

One of the wounded, Jamshed Hussain, told Reuters by phone from a hospital bed that he had been travelling in the convoy of around 100 vehicles accompanied by police.

He said some of those travelling in the convoy had stopped and attacked it, starting with the escort, spraying the vehicles with bullets from both sides.

“We don’t know them but they were armed with rifles and they stopped the vehicles and started firing on the passengers from a close distance,” Hussain was quoted as saying.

Condemnations pour in

The attack was widely condemned, including by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, as well as political parties.

In a statement issued today, US Mission spokesperson Jonathan Lalley said the United States condemned the “horrific attack in Kurram that killed dozens of innocent Pakistanis and critically injured many more”.

“Our sympathies and condolences go out to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and we wish the injured a full and speedy recovery,” the spokesperson said.

“The Pakistani people deserve to live free from harm, danger, and threat, and to feel protected and secure in their daily lives,” the statement read.

Asserting that the US will remain a “steadfast partner to Pakistan to ensure the safety and security of all its citizens”, Lalley expressed the US’s solidarity with the people of KP during the difficult time.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”, stressing that countering terrorism was a collective goal between the two countries.

“Our condolences to the victims’ families and to people and government of brotherly Pakistan. We ask Almighty Allah for speedy recovery of those injured,” he wrote in a post on X.

“Terrorism is unequivocally condemned in all its forms and manifestations. Countering terrorism effectively is Iran-Pakistan’s shared goal,” he underscored. “We spare no effort in strengthening bilateral and multilateral coordination and cooperation to uproot the scourge of terrorism.”

Officials see ‘land dispute’ behind incident

Kurram district, which borders Afghanistan, has long experienced sectarian violence, often fuelled by disputes over land ownership between communities.

The government had earlier appointed a land commission to resolve the matter. While the commission has reportedly submitted its findings, the government has yet to make the report public, citing sensitivities over the matter.

Speculation also surrounds the involvement of the banned terrorist group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has recently been active in Lower Kurram, prompting fears among the residents. But government officials attributed the incident to the ongoing land dispute, ruling out sectarian motives.

A tribal elder of Tori Bangash tribes, Jalal Bangash, urged authorities to immediately evacuate stranded passengers and take steps to ensure the safety of the injured.

Bangash and Alla­­ma Tajammal Hussain condemned the attack, stressing the failure of state institutions to sec­ure transportation routes despite previous peace efforts, including a mass march by locals from Parachinar to Islamabad.

The incident comes amid a sharp uptick in the number of terrorist attacks in KP and Balochistan, with at least 55 security personnel being martyred in the first three weeks of November, according to a think tank.

In KP’s Bannu district, 12 security personnel were martyred while six terrorists were killed after a checkpost was targeted on Tuesday.

Attacks escalated after the TTP broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022 and vowed to target security forces.

Additional input from Reuters