Security forces, backed by helicopter gunship, on Thursday killed five militants in a retaliatory attack in the tribal Kurram region. The forces’ retaliation came after suspected Sunni militants attacked a food convoy carrying supplies to Kurram Agency, killing four persons including a truck driver, two helpers and a security guard, an official said. Atta-ur-Rehman, a senior government official in Parachinar, said militants ambushed a food convoy killing four persons and then set three trucks loaded with goods on fire. The attackers who ambushed the convoy in the tribal Kurram region used heavy weapons including rocket launchers and AK-47 assault rifles, he said. “We responded with helicopter gunship and killed at least five militants and wounded four,” Rehman told Reuters.
Sunni militants have been attacking vehicles going into the Shia-majority Kurram tribal region on the Afghan border for months. To counter that, paramilitary troops have been escorting supply convoys into the area, but they too have come under attacks. Meanwhile, another official said on the condition of anonymity that the village in which the convoy was attacked was dominated by Sunni Muslims, adding, “ It appears to be linked to the sectarian tensions.”
Sectarian tension has risen in Kurram and other parts of the North West Frontier Province in recent months as Sunni Taliban and Al Qaeda linked militants have been expanding their influence across the region. Parachinar was rocked by sectarian clashes in April in which 50 people were killed.