People worried as key routes remain closed in Kurram

PARACHINAR: The closure of key transportation routes in Kurram for the past four and a half months continues to trouble over 500,000 residents.

The unavailability of fuel has disrupted daily life, forcing people to travel long distances on foot to reach hospitals. Many patients, unable to receive timely medical care, lose lives on the way.

Residents have urged the government to reopen the roads, arguing that there is no justification for their continued closure after the recent peace agreement. They want authorities to secure the main highway and restore transportation access immediately.

Following sectarian violence and bloodshed in Kurram, a peace agreement was brokered between the conflicting parties through tribal jirga and government efforts.

While the government claims to be working on implementing the agreement-including dismantling bunkers and addressing other key provisions-locals believe that the most crucial aspect, reopening the main highway, remains unfulfilled, multiplying hardships for the people.

The region is facing an acute shortage of medicines. A lack of fuel has made it nearly impossible to transport patients to hospitals from remote areas. Many critically ill patients, including pregnant women facing complications, die before reaching medical facilities.

The local economy has collapsed, businesses have shut down, and daily-wage laborers are struggling to survive as poverty deepens. A severe cold has led to a rise in illnesses among children, but the shortage of essential medicines has put their lives at risk.

The provincial government has been supplying hospitals with medicines through occasional helicopter services, but for a population of 500,000, these supplies are grossly insufficient. The road closures have also left hundreds of Pakistanis stranded, with their visas nearing expiration and no assistance in sight.

The students studying in different cities across the country have been unable to return to their educational institutions, jeopardizing their academic careers. The people of Kurram have demanded immediate action to reopen the roads, in line with the peace agreement, and urged the government to treat the underprivileged tribal communities as equal citizens by addressing their sufferings.