- The recent clashes in Parachinar killed more than 130 people.
- MWM organizes sit-ins at Malir 15, Star Gate.
- Traffic police divert vehicles due to protests.
KARACHI: Sit-ins organized by the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) against the situation in Parachinar town in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spread to other areas of Karachi, causing inconvenience to commuters on Thursday.
Clashes in Parachinar have killed more than 130 people, while reports emerged of more than 100 children dying due to lack of medicines in the city. However, KP government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif denied reports of children dying in the area.
It has been about two and a half months since routes including the Afghan border and the Peshawar-Parachinar highway were not opened for vehicle movement.
The situation worsened after the gun attack on passenger vehicles, which followed another round of fighting in Kurram.
Upper Kurram residents are in dire straits as a result of road closures, which have led to significant shortages of essential goods including food, petrol and fuel. The non-availability of medicines has aggravated their plight, leading to a six-day sit-in in front of the Parachinar Press Club.
The MWM began its sit-ins and protests at Karachi Numaish Chowrangi, which eventually spread to other areas, including near Malir 15 and Star Gate on the city’s main artery, Sharea Faisal.
Karachi traffic police said that the traffic situation has been affected and vehicles are being diverted to different routes.
In a statement issued on
Police said traffic movement is slow so they are diverting vehicles heading towards Sharea Faisal from Nipa, Drigh Road and Gulistan-e-Johar to Dalmia.
MWM leader Allama Hassan Zafar Naqvi said Parachinar village is under siege from all sides. He warned that if the situation persists, they will start protesting in all divisional headquarters of Pakistan.
He said they support the sit-in in Parachinar, urging the federal and KP governments to open the closed roads.
MWM chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri, in his telephonic address from Numaish, said a human tragedy was unfolding in Kurram Agency.
“The deaths are due to road closures due to lack of food and medicine,” Jafri said, stressing that the government should accept the demands of the people of Parachinar.
