Pakistan faces unprecedented resurgence of Taliban violence

A truck destroyed by unidentified men, in Kolpur, near Quetta, Pakistan, on January 30, 2024. NASEER AHMED/REUTERS

The main road that connects the Kurram region to the rest of Pakistan has been cut off by the authorities for over 70 days, in an attempt to curb a surge of violence. The region's residents lack basic necessities, including transportation to schools, medicine, firewood and food. The blockade has led to a serious humanitarian crisis, with some 30 children dying over the past two months due to a lack of medical care. Kurram, located in mountainous northwestern Pakistan, is the only district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the Shiite Muslim community, a minority in Pakistan, is the local majority population.

On November 21, the road had been briefly reopened for a convoy, escorted by law enforcement officers, taking men, women and children from Parachinar to Peshawar. The vehicles were ambushed by Sunni militants. The ensuing wave of violence continued for three days, claiming 130 lives.

A long-standing land dispute has pitted the two communities against each other, but the resurgence of violence is rooted in the district's geography. Kurram is located not far from the Durand Line, which marks the modern border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and often serves as a route or landmark for terrorist groups, who have thrived in the region since the Taliban took back Kabul, in 2021. One of the first decisions made by Afghanistan’s new rulers was to free members of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, the Pakistani branch of the Taliban, who had been imprisoned by the previous government.

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