Death toll rises to 5 in rocket and gun attack on an aid convoy in restive northwestern Pakistan

PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) — The death toll from a rocket and gun attack on an aid convoy in restive northwestern Pakistan has jumped to at least five, local authorities said Friday.

The attack happened Thursday when trucks carrying food, medicine and other relief supplies for hundreds of thousands of besieged residents were heading to Kurram, a district hit by sectarian violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Authorities initially said a security officer was killed in the attack, but Shaukat Ali, a district administrator in Kurram, said on Friday that another officer had died at a hospital and the bodies of three missing truck drivers had been found.

He said five drivers were still missing and their trucks had been burned by the attackers.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack in Kurram, which has been the scene of violence between Shiite and Sunni tribes since July 2024. The violence surged in November when attackers opened fire on vehicles carrying passengers, killing 52 people, mostly Shiites. Since then, at least 130 people have died in violence there.

Thursday’s attack came weeks after the government secured a ceasefire deal between tribal leaders.

Shiite Muslims dominate parts of Kurram, although they are a minority in the rest of Pakistan, which is majority Sunni. The area has a history of sectarian conflict, with militant Sunni groups previously targeting minority Shiites.