ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) on Thursday launched a food security initiative in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, distributing food packages to people from a district marred by sectarian clashes since last month.
Kurram — a tribal district of around 600,000 in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where federal and provincial authorities have traditionally exerted limited control — has frequently experienced violence between its Sunni and Shia communities over land and power. Travelers to and from the town often ride in convoys escorted by security officials. The latest violence erupted on Nov. 21 when gunmen ambushed a vehicle convoy, killing 52 people, mostly Shias.
The assault triggered road closures and other measures that have disrupted people’s access to medicine, food, fuel, education and work. Over 130 people have been killed in the fighting that has ensued after the convoy attack, according to police records.
“As part of this effort, 500 food packages were distributed to displaced beneficiaries from Kurram district, who are currently residing in Tehsil Thall and facing urgent food insecurity,” the Saudi charity KSRelief said in a statement.
“The distribution took place in a camp in District Hangu, providing timely relief to displaced families in need.”
The initiative is part of KSrelief’s first phase of the Food Security Support Project for 2024-25, which aims to distribute 10,000 food packages among poor people across 14 districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
KSrelief has implemented 210 projects in Pakistan worth millions of dollars to improve the lives of vulnerable communities. Efforts include emergency relief for natural disasters, and long-term projects addressing food security, health care, education, and shelter. Shelter NFI and Winter Kits Project are notable initiatives providing essential items to families in harsh weather conditions, and food distribution programs that combat hunger and malnutrition.
In partnership with UNICEF, KSrelief supports critical health initiatives, such as vaccination campaigns to prevent polio and measles, safeguarding millions of children. The Noor Saudi Volunteer Project provides free eye care through eye camps, combating blindness among underprivileged populations.
KSrelief distributes food aid to displaced persons from Pakistani district facing sectarian clashes
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KSrelief distributes food aid to displaced persons from Pakistani district facing sectarian clashes
- 500 food packages distributed to people from Kurram district currently residing in Tehsil Thall and facing urgent food insecurity
- KSrelief has implemented 210 projects in Pakistan worth millions of dollars to improve the lives of vulnerable communities
Back from Iran, Pakistani students say they heard gunshots while confined to campus
- Students say they were confined to dormitories and unable to leave campuses amid unrest
- Pakistani students stayed in touch with families through the embassy amid Internet blackout
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani students returning from Iran on Thursday said they heard gunshots and stories of rioting and violence while being confined to campus and not allowed out of their dormitories in the evening.
Iran’s leadership is trying to quell the worst domestic unrest since its 1979 revolution, with a rights group putting the death toll over 2,600.
As the protests swell, Tehran is seeking to deter US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters.
“During nighttime, we would sit inside and we would hear gunshots,” Shahanshah Abbas, a fourth-year student at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, said at the Islamabad airport.
“The situation down there is that riots have been happening everywhere. People are dying. Force is being used.”
Abbas said students at the university were not allowed to leave campus and told to stay in their dormitories after 4 p.m.
“There was nothing happening on campus,” Abbas said, but in his interactions with Iranians, he heard stories of violence and chaos.
“The surrounding areas, like banks, mosques, they were damaged, set on fire ... so things were really bad.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran but adopted a wait-and-see posture on Thursday after protests appeared to have abated. Information flows have been hampered by an Internet blackout for a week.
“We were not allowed to go out of the university,” said Arslan Haider, a student in his final year. “The riots would mostly start later in the day.”
Haider said he was unable to contact his family due to the blackout but “now that they opened international calls, the students are getting back because their parents were concerned.”
A Pakistani diplomat in Tehran said the embassy was getting calls from many of the 3,500 students in Iran to send messages to their families back home.
“Since they don’t have Internet connections to make WhatsApp and other social network calls, what they do is they contact the embassy from local phone numbers and tell us to inform their families.”
Rimsha Akbar, who was in the middle of her final year exams at Isfahan, said international students were kept safe.
“Iranians would tell us if we are talking on Snapchat or if we were riding in a cab ... that shelling had happened, tear gas had happened, and that a lot of people were killed.”
