Peshawar, Feb 4 (PTI) Over thirty bunkers have been demolished in northwest Pakistan's strife-torn Kurram district in line with a peace agreement reached between warring Sunni and Shia tribes, officials said on Tuesday.
The peace accord was signed between Alizai and Bagan tribes on January 4 after sectarian clashes resulted in the killing of 133 people in the district between November 21 and December 2.
Under the agreement, residents pledged to surrender their weapons to the state in different phases within 15 days, while the dismantling of local bunkers is set to be completed by February end.
Authorities demolished the bunkers by detonating them with explosives, said district administration officials involved in the process. The demolition process was started on January 10.
There are more than 250 bunkers in the lower and upper Kurram district.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government Spokesman Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said the demolition of the bunkers was necessary for maintaining public order in the district.
Many locals were hopeful that this exercise would restore lasting peace to the region.
Since the beginning of the clashes, food and medicine shortages have also been reported due to weeks-long road blockades in the region.
According to official sources, 453 vehicles with supplies of edibles and other essential items have been transported in Kurram so far, while relief amounts are also being distributed among the affected people.
The deadly clashes erupted as an aftermath of a lethal attack on passenger vans that killed 57 people near Parachinar on November 21 last year. PTI AYZ GRS GRS GRS