Lack of supplies has killed 128 children in Parachinar since the conflict began, according to an ex-minister

According to former federal minister Sajid Hussain Turi, the shortage of supplies in Parachinar has resulted in the deaths of at least 128 children since the battle began about three months ago.

Since November, Kurram has been isolated from the rest of the nation because of bloody tribal conflicts that have killed over 100 people. Since November 21, all Kurram routes, including the Parachinar-Peshawar highway, have been off-limits to transportation due to an attack on a convoy of vehicles in the Bagan area that claimed the lives of at least fifty persons.

However, the federal administration claimed in a statement published on X on December 27 that, in spite of the ban, one tonne of medication was flown to Parachinar.

The statement said, “The same helicopters that NDMA used to deliver medicines were also used to transport the sick brothers and sisters to Islamabad.”

Numerous people from both sides were killed in the district’s deadliest conflicts, which were brought on by the attack. When two persons were waylaid on their way to Parachinar in the Bagan area of Kurram and subsequently slain and decapitated, the situation intensified.

Late on Saturday night, a grand jirga of tribal elders, former parliamentarians, and local authorities met in Kohat. They had many sessions but postponed the agreement. For the past ten days, there has been a demonstration going on nearby.

Turi stated, “This figure goes up to 128 [children] who died over the last 85 days if you accumulate figures from all the hospitals in the surrounding areas.”

A local civil society released a list that Dawn.com was able to view, which stated that 128 children have previously died in the area as a result of a shortage of medications.

According to Turi, because the road was stopped for 85 days, there is no gas or petrol, hospitals are in poor shape, and schools are closed.

“People are facing a lot of difficulties,” he added, adding that a lack of resources has also resulted in the deaths of laboring women and heart patients.
“The state of affairs is appalling. It’s been a long time—85 days—and things have gotten rather serious,” he remarked.

Karachi protests
According to officials, witnesses, and organizers, the religiopolitical Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) has been holding sit-ins throughout Karachi for the past week in protest of the Parachinar deaths by closing down nearly all major thoroughfares.

After negotiations with police and city authorities failed to produce a definitive solution, party leaders and activists said on Sunday that they would continue to stage sit-ins throughout the city.

“The government won’t be able to stop it if we call for sit-ins throughout Sindh,” MWM leader Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi stated in a statement.

“We have discussed the sitins with the administration,” he continued. At several protests throughout the city, protesters have set up shop at specific spots while allowing traffic to pass.

“We will not stop the sit-ins,” Naqvi had declared.