Army Chief reaches Parachinar to meet families of bombing victims

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Parachinar today on Friday to meet with the families of the victims of the twin blasts that tore through the city last week, a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Shortly after he arrived in the city, Gen Bajwa was briefed and given an update about the security situation in Parachinar where at least 72 were killed and 200 others were injured.
According to the statement, the army chief is also expected to meet with tribal elders later in the day.
Members of the Shia community in Parachinar, the capital of Kurram Agency ─ a mainly Shia area in the tribal belt, protested against government inaction following the bombings and demanded a visit from the Gen Bajwa and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar.
The Shia community is expected to present a list of 11 demands to the COAS which includes Rs5 million compensation for those killed in the attack, and Rs2.5m for those injured.
The protesters have also demanded that the Frontier Constabulary (FC), currently deployed in the city, be replaced by the Turi militia force for the security of Parachinar, and that FC Commandant Malik Umer be removed from his post.
They demanded that a report on terrorist incidents in Parachinar should be made public and the Pak-Afghan border be secured.
The army chief had reportedly attempted to fly to Parachinar earlier this week, before being forced to turn back due to inclement weather.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Pakistan Army called for a unified response to what it said was a “malicious” campaign by hostile intelligence agencies and anti-state elements to give a sectarian and ethnic colour to the recent violence.
According to an earlier ISPR statement, the army chief had interacted with religious clergy of all sects over the last few days to seek their involvement in defeating the “campaign” to create sectarian tension.
The twin explosions that tore through the city last Friday were the third terrorist attack that Parachinar has witnessed in 2017.
At least 24 people were killed in January in a bomb attack claimed by the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami and a splinter group of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led by Sheheryar Mehsud.
In March, a second attack in another market killed 22 people. The attack was claimed by the Jamaatul Ahrar.
Friday’s assault ─ also claimed by the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami ─ brought the town’s loss of life due to terror attacks up to 115, more than any one city in Pakistan has suffered so far this year.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced compensation of Rs1 million and Rs0.5 million for each family of the victims of the twin bombings and for each person injured in the blasts, respectively.
However, protesting tribal elders have rejected the offered compensation, saying that they need to be recognised as human beings first. The compensation was announced six days after the bombing.