PESHAWAR: A jirga mediating between rival groups in the volatile Kurram tribal district on Thursday sounded a degree of optimism to get the two sides to sign a “sustainable peace agreement” in the next 24 hours.

“It has been exhausting and very tiring, but we have made a lot of ground and achieved consensus on nearly 90 per cent of the issues,” a senior administration official told Dawn over the phone from Kurram.

The agreement would include the demolition of bunkers and de-weaponisation of the district, the official said.

The road linking the regional headquarters Parachinar with Thall and Hangu and the rest of the country has been closed as fighters took to the mountains and established bunkers.

Road connecting Parachinar to Thall, Hangu remains closed

Police and paramilitary forces have vacated and demolished the bunkers, but the road remains closed owing to a fragile security situation and the fear of reprisal attacks.

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“The presence of heavy weapons is the root cause of the problem, which has led to so many casualties. One side had certain reservations over the de-weaponisation, but we told that it would be the state’s responsibility to ensure that neither side had heavy weapons available to them,” the official said.

“We are working on a roadmap that would lead to sustainable peace in the tribal district,” the official said. He was confident that they would have a draft agreement ready for signatures by Friday evening.

“Once we have the agreement, opening of the roads vital for the movement of people and goods would follow,” he said.

At least 130 people have been killed, scores wounded and many displaced in the weeks-long clashes, heavy exchange of fire and arson in the sectarian-sensitive Kurram tribal district, in the wake of an attack on a convoy that claimed around 40 lives.

The government had formed a land commission to settle the dispute over a piece of land, which both sides claimed as their own, but it has yet to make its findings public.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2024