Tribal elders in Kurram Agency on Monday requested the government raze madrassas involved in militant training and called for arresting all those involved in such activities.
| "The governments of Afghanistan and Iran and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops from across the Durand Line are supporting the Tori Bangash tribes who are against Sunni Muslims," said a jirga led by Attaullah, Malik Sawab Khan and Malik Jannat Shah. |
Presenting a list of suggestions to curb sectarianism in Kurram Agency, the elders said the government must take notice of foreign interference inciting clashes between Shias and Sunnis in the agency. "The governments of Afghanistan and Iran and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops from across the Durand Line are supporting the Tori Bangash tribes who are against Sunni Muslims," said a jirga led by Attaullah, Malik Sawab Khan and Malik Jannat Shah.
Addressing a news conference here on Monday, they claimed that armed men of the former Northern Alliance had crossed the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan and were targeting Sunnis. Attaullah said elders of the Tori Bangash tribes were drawing support from NATO troops and the Afghan government in the name of fighting the Taliban in Kurram Agency. "The fact is there are no Taliban in the agency and only Sunni tribesmen are being killed," said the elders.
They also questioned why the government had not initiated military action in the agency if the Taliban were suspected to be operating there, adding that NATO forces were being misled through false information. They said around 580 Sunni families had moved out of Parachinar, the Kurram Agency headquarters, due to the Tori Bangash tribes.
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