Deadly sectarian clashes have cut off a mostly Shi’ite city in northwestern Pakistan from the rest of the Sunni-majority country.
Locals in Parachinar say there has been a severe shortage of food, fuel, and medicine since the main road leading in and out of the city was blocked last month.
“We are living under tremendous stress,” said Munawar Hussain, a tribal leader in Parachinar, a city of some 400,000 people. “Our children are dying because of a shortage of food and medicine.”
A doctor and a health-care worker, who both spoke on condition of anonymity, told RFE/RL that dozens of children have died because of a lack of medicine. The claim has been rejected by the authorities.
Hundreds have been killed and injured in clashes between Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims in the Kurram district, of which Parachinar is the main city, this year.
In November, almost 100 people were killed in a series of ambushes on the main road linking Kurram with the rest of the country. The violence led to the closure of the road, which is manned by armed men from rival communities.
The authorities have held weeks of talks between the Sunni and Shi’ite communities but have failed to broker an end to the hostilities.
'Wave Of Deaths'
The blockade of Parachinar has taken a major toll on civilians on both sides of the conflict. Some nearby Sunni villages have been unable to leave their communities for fear of attacks. Meanwhile, in Parachinar, which is surrounded by largely Sunni communities, locals complain that they cannot leave the city and are struggling to obtain everyday essentials.
“I cannot find any medicine,” said Munir Hussain, whose child was admitted to the only state-run hospital in Parachinar.
A health-care worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said on December 18 that at least 34 children have died in recent weeks.
The worker said there was a shortage of medicine, and added that the main hospital ran out of oxygen supplies weeks ago.
A doctor working in the state-run hospital, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said on December 17 that at least 29 children had died because they could not be treated.
Temperatures in Parachinar frequently drop to below zero degrees Celsius, which doctors say is contributing to rising cases of pneumonia among children.
The health-care worker said they were also bracing for a spike in deaths among the elderly. The workers said many older patients suffering from serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart and kidney ailments have run out of their medicine.
'Critical' Conditions
Muhammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which Kurram is part of, said the authorities were investigating the reported deaths.
“I want to assure you that it didn’t happen because of a lack of medicines,” he told journalists in the provincial capital, Peshawar, on December 18, adding that deaths among children were routine in the area.
Pakistan’s state broadcaster reported on December 17 that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the provincial authorities to take “immediate steps” to send medicine to Parachinar.
The Edhi Foundation, a private charity, flew medicine to Parachinar on December 18. The plane also evacuated two gravely ill women to Peshawar for treatment.
Faisal Edhi, head of the charity, said the conditions in the city were “critical” and there was a “dire need for essential medicine.”
“These minuscule supplies are not enough for such a large population,” said Laiq Hussain, an activist in Parachinar.
He blamed the government for failing to reopen the road linking Parachinar to the rest of the country. The authorities, he said, were “indifferent to our plight.”
The provincial authorities said they have been unable to reopen the main road leading in and out of Parachinar because of the presence of armed men from both the Sunni and Shi’ite communities.
Kurram, a mountainous district bordering Afghanistan, has long been the scene of sporadic bursts of sectarian violence. The clashes, often over land, have left thousands of people in Kurram dead in recent decades.
