Calls for probe after killing of civilians reported in northwest Pakistan

In a remote area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan, at least 24 people were killed in explosions, including children, which sparked inquiries into the incident.

A local police official claimed that fighters and civilians were killed when bomb-making material allegedly stored at a Pakistan Taliban compound, known as the TTP, detonated in the Tirah Valley region early on Monday.

However, a large number of local opposition figures and other authorities accuse the Pakistani military of conducting nighttime airstrikes as part of a “counterterror operation” to expel fighters from mountainous regions bordering Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government or the armed forces have not yet released an official statement.

According to Zafar Khan, a local police officer, at least 10 civilians, including children and women, were killed in addition to at least 14 fighters, two of whom were TTP commanders, according to The Associated Press news agency.

In Khyber, Bajaur, and other areas of the northwest, security forces are conducting operations against the Pakistani Taliban. Since its inception in 2007, the outlawed group has been staging an armed uprising against Pakistan’s government. Although the organizations share common ideological roots, they are distinct from the Taliban, which has been in place in Afghanistan.

An attack on unarmed civilians

Iqbal Afridi, a member of the opposition’s National Assembly whose district includes Tirah, which is close to Afghanistan’s border, claimed that Pakistani airstrikes caused the explosions.

Lawmaker Sohail Khan Afridi also attributed the attack to the military while speaking at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly on Monday afternoon.

He claimed that the security forces’ assault was nothing more than an attack on unarmed civilians.

Both politicians are members of Imran Khan’s provincial government, which is led by former prime minister Imran Khan.

According to Babar Saleem Swati, the speaker of the provincial assembly, “civilites were killed and homes were destroyed as a result of jet aircraft bombardment,” which will have a negative impact on the country’s future.

According to Swati, “when the blood of our own people is made so cheap and bombs are dropped on them, everyone starts to burn,” and federal and provincial governments should launch a fair investigation and pay compensation to the families who have been affected.

Independent monitor, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, expressed its shock at learning that the attack claimed the lives of children and civilians.