Peshawar Jan 5 (PTI) An aid convoy carrying essential food items and medicines for the crisis-hit Kurram district in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been given the security clearance to move ahead after it was targeted by unknown gunmen on Saturday.

However, the 80-vehicle convoy remains held up at Tal due to the closure of the Parachinar-Tal road following the gun attack in which Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud was injured.

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif confirmed that the aid convoy, that was struck at Tal area following the gun attack, would now leave for the restive region following security clearance.

The deputy commissioner of the violence-torn Kurram district in northwest Pakistan was injured when assailants opened fire on his convoy on Saturday, days after a peace agreement was reached between two warring parties in the violence-hit zone.

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Javedullah Mehsud, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the Kurram district, and five others were injured when their military vehicles were fired upon in Kojalai Baba village near Bagan, about 200 km southwest of Peshawar, in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The Alizai and Bagan tribes on Wednesday reached a peace agreement after sectarian clashes resulted in the killing of 133 people in the district between November 21 and December 2.

The clashes erupted as an aftermath of a lethal attack on passenger vans that killed 57 people near Parachinar.

Meanwhile, the provincial government has appointed Ashfaq Khan as deputy commissioner Kurram following the attack on incumbent DC Javedullah Mehsud.

The uncertainty surrounding the relief convoy continues against the backdrop of an acute shortage of essential items in the district. The Parachinar-Tal road was supposed to reopen a day earlier.

However, the hopes of 600,000 Kurram residents of getting much-needed supplies were shattered after gunmen opened fire injuring DC Mehsud and six others, including a Frontier Constabulary personnel, a policeman and four civilians.

Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner — who had played a key role in efforts to restore peace in the restive region — has since then been shifted to Peshawar by helicopter and is being treated for his injuries.

With authorities saying that five individuals involved in the attack have been identified, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has vowed to take strict action against those involved in the assault.

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