The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Monday called for an urgent investigation into an incident in Tirah Valley, Khyber district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, that reportedly killed civilians, including children. This comes as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the country’s main opposition party, has alleged that airstrikes were responsible for the civilian casualties, while police claimed that the blast was linked to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
In a statement on X, HRCP said, “HRCP is deeply shocked to learn that a number of civilians, including children, have been killed, allegedly as a result of aerial bombing in Tirah, Khyber district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We demand that the authorities carry out an immediate and impartial inquiry into the incident and hold to account those responsible. The state is constitutionally bound to protect all civilians’ right to life, which it has repeatedly failed to secure.”
Blast Kills 24, Civilians and Militants Among Dead
News agency AFP reported that bomb-making material allegedly stored at a compound by Pakistani Taliban fighters exploded on Monday in the restive northwest, killing at least 24 people. Local police officer Zafar Khan said the blast destroyed several nearby homes and resulted in at least 10 civilian deaths, including women and children, alongside at least 14 militants.
Khan alleged that two Pakistani Taliban commanders, Aman Gul and Masood Khan, had established hideouts in the compound, which was being used as a factory to produce roadside bombs. He accused the militants of using civilians as human shields and said that weapons had recently been stored in mosques in other districts.
PTI Alleges Civilian Targeting In Air Strike
PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter shared images and videos from the site, stating on X, “During the jet aircraft bombing in the Tirah Valley of Khyber, several bombs fell on the local population. Five houses of local citizens were destroyed, and according to local sources, 20 bodies have been recovered from the rubble so far, including children and women among the martyrs. I have no words that can encompass this sorrow and grief. Sometimes drones, sometimes bombings have sown so many seeds of hatred that when this lava erupts, nothing will be left.”
NDTV reported that China-made JF-17 fighter jets dropped eight LS-6 laser-guided bombs on the village around 2 am. The incident has intensified public anger in communities already unsettled by militant attacks over recent years.
Khyber Locals Protest, PTI Member Demands FIR Against Munir
No official statement has yet been issued. Pakistan-based Dawn noted that both Khyber Deputy Commissioner Bilal Shahid and District Police Officer Mazhar Iqbal did not respond to requests for comment. Mohammad Iqbal Khan Afridi, Member of the National Assembly from Khyber, expressed sorrow in a Pashto video message, saying elderly women and children were killed in “shelling by jets” and urging people to visit the site in protest. He added, “The killing of civilians has become a routine.”
Leading a protest, he demanded an FIR against Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir. He remarked in a post, “If justice is not served, this movement will turn into such a clarion call that it will shake the walls of GHQ.”
Earlier this year, similar incidents occurred, including a May quadcopter strike in Wana tehsil of South Waziristan that injured 22 people, including seven children, and another attack in Mir Ali tehsil of North Waziristan that killed four children. The military later maintained that the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was responsible for the latter strike.
Military Operations and Growing Tensions
Pakistan’s security forces are conducting ongoing operations against the TTP across Khyber, Bajaur, and other parts of the northwest. The TTP, allied with the Afghan Taliban but a distinct entity, has seen its influence grow since the Afghan Taliban regained power in 2021, with many of its leaders believed to be taking sanctuary in Afghanistan.
Local authorities told AFP that TTP commanders had set up bomb-making operations in civilian areas, often using local residents as human shields. The recent strike follows an ambush in South Waziristan in which 12 Pakistani soldiers were reportedly killed.
The incident has raised questions about intelligence and counter-terrorism measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a remote, mountainous region that has long been a stronghold for militants.
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