TIRAH: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed deep shock on Monday after reports emerged that several civilians, including children, were killed in an alleged aerial bombing in the Tirah area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The HRCP has called for an immediate and impartial inquiry into the incident.
A statement shared by the HRCP on social media condemned the attack, demanding accountability from the authorities. “The state is constitutionally bound to protect all civilians’ right to life, which it has repeatedly failed to secure,” the commission said.
No official statement has been issued by the authorities regarding the incident. Dawn.com reached out to the Deputy Commissioner of Khyber, Bilal Shahid, and the District Police Officer, Mazhar Iqbal, but has not yet received a response.
According to a senior police officer in the area, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, the jets targeted four houses, completely destroying them. However, the officer did not confirm who was responsible for the attack.
The Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Babar Swati, has called for a transparent investigation into the incident, urging both the federal and provincial governments to identify those responsible and provide immediate relief and compensation to the affected families.
Sohail Afridi, the Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Communication and Works, also raised concerns over the incident in the KP Assembly, describing it as a “horrifying tragedy” that occurred at 2 am in Tirah. He alleged that mortar shells and bombs were dropped on the local population, resulting in the deaths of 25 people, including women and children. However, it is still unclear who was behind the attack.
In a video message shared with the media, Mohammad Iqbal Khan Afridi, a Member of the National Assembly from Khyber, expressed his condolences for the victims and condemned the shelling by jets in Tirah. He urged the people to protest the killings, adding that such incidents had become all too frequent.
This incident follows a similar one in May, when 22 people, including seven children, were injured in a suspected quadcopter strike in South Waziristan. Earlier, in North Waziristan, four children were killed and five others injured in a suspected quadcopter munitions drop, although the military later clarified that the attack was carried out by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
