On Friday, thousands of people rallied against a planned military operation by Pakistan to root out militants along the Afghan border. The protest turned deadly when gunfire erupted, resulting in at least one protester being killed, according to officials and witnesses.
Over 10,000 demonstrators, waving white flags and calling for peace, gathered in Bannu—approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Afghanistan. This rally followed a suicide bombing on Monday, where an explosive-laden vehicle was rammed into an army enclave, killing eight Pakistani troops.
“Military operations have been ongoing for 20 years, yet peace has not been established,” said protester Jamaluddin Wazir. “Military operations can never be a substitute for peace.”
Earlier this year, the Pakistani government announced a new military campaign to counter violence in border areas with Afghanistan, which has surged since the Taliban returned to power. However, details of the operation were not disclosed.
The protest escalated when crowds reached the walls of an army facility and gunfire broke out. “They chanted slogans against the army, and some started throwing stones at the facility’s wall. This led to firing in the air by the military, causing a stampede,” an intelligence official in Peshawar reported on condition of anonymity.
Pakhtun Yar, the provincial minister for public health and a speaker at the protest, confirmed that at least one protester died. He accused the military of directly targeting the demonstrators. “During the rally, shots were fired directly at me and the people standing near me. This wasn’t just firing in the air—it was intended to kill us,” Yar said. “The shooting was carried out by those who want to destroy our peace. They want to spill the blood of our people, but the community is no longer willing to tolerate this.”
For years, the Pakistan Taliban—a separate group from the Afghan Taliban but with a similar ideology—waged a bloody campaign in the area, killing thousands of civilians and taking control of parts of the border region before being pushed back by a military campaign that began in 2014. The clearance operation displaced hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed countless homes and businesses, sparking a local backlash calling for the protection of ethnic Pashtun rights.
Protests against Pakistan’s powerful military are rare and often quickly suppressed. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who campaigned against army chiefs after being ousted from power, is currently in jail on charges of inciting protests against the military. His party has faced a major crackdown, with supporters and leaders rounded up last year for staging unprecedented rallies against the military, accusing it of political interference.
Violence has surged along the border since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to root out militant groups sheltering on Afghan soil and launching assaults on Pakistan. The Taliban government insists it will not allow foreign militant outfits to operate from Afghanistan, but relations between Islamabad and Kabul have soured over the issue.
July 20,2024
Source: Al Arabiya