Aid convoy reaches remote district in NW Pakistan after prolonged blockade amid sectarian violence

PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) — Aid trucks carrying medicines, food and other relief supplies for hundreds of thousands of besieged residents reached a remote region in restive northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, a government spokesman and local officials said.

A key highway leading to the Kurram district was closed by authorities over three months ago following violent clashes between rival Shiite and Sunni tribes in which at least 130 people have died.

The convoy had been waiting for a security clearance since Saturday when gunmen opened fire on government vehicles and wounded some officials who were on their way to supervise the supply of aid to Kurram, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Muhammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for the provincial government, said Wednesday that dozens of trucks and vehicles carrying food, medicines, tents and other essential items, have reached the Kurram district.

The latest development comes two weeks after authorities with the help from elders secured a ceasefire in Kurram.

Road closures had disrupted the local population’s access to medicine, food, fuel, education and work since October, but violence flared on Nov. 21, when gunmen ambushed a convoy of vehicles and killed 52 people, mostly Shiite Muslims, in a dispute over land.

Shiite Muslims dominate parts of Kurram, although they are a minority in the rest of Pakistan, which is majority Sunni. The area has a history of sectarian conflict, with militant Sunni groups previously targeting minority Shiites.