Thousands of people rallied on Friday against a planned Pakistani military operation to flush out militants along the Afghan border, sparking a gunfight that left at least one protester dead, officials and witnesses said.
More than 10,000 people waving white flags and calling for peace gathered at a rally in Bannu, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Afghanistan, where a suicide bomber on Monday rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into a military post, killing eight Pakistani soldiers.
“Military operations have been going on for 20 years but peace has not been established,” protester Jamaluddin Wazir told AFP.
“Military operations can never be a substitute for peace.”
Pakistan’s government announced earlier this year, without providing details, that its military would launch a new operation to counter violence along the region’s border with Afghanistan that has escalated since the Taliban returned to power.
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Witnesses and officials reported that protests on Friday turned violent when crowds reached the walls of the military compound and gunfights broke out.
“They chanted anti-army slogans and some started throwing stones at the compound’s walls, which led to troops firing in the air, causing the crowd to go wild,” an intelligence official in the nearby city of Peshawar told AFP on condition of anonymity.
At least one protester was killed, according to Pakhtunkhwa provincial health minister Abiyar al-Hassan, who spoke at the protest.
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He accused the military of opening fire on protesters.
“During the rally, shots were fired directly at me and those nearby. It wasn’t just shots in the air, it was intended to kill us,” Jaar told AFP.
“This shooting was carried out by those who seek to destroy our peace. They are seeking to shed the blood of our people and the community will no longer tolerate this.”
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The Pakistani Taliban, a separate group but with a similar ideology, fought bloody battles in the region for years, killing thousands of civilians and controlling parts of the border before being driven back by a military operation that began in 2014.
The clearance operations have displaced hundreds of thousands of people, destroyed countless homes and businesses, and sparked a backlash from local residents who demanded protection for the rights of Pashtuns.
But protests against the powerful military, which analysts say wields great influence over government and foreign policy, are rare and often quickly put down.
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Former prime minister Imran Khan, who launched a defiant campaign against military leaders after being ousted from power, is currently jailed for inciting protests against the army.
His party has faced a major crackdown, with supporters and leaders arrested last year for holding an unprecedented one-day rally against the military, accusing it of meddling in politics.
Violence along the border has soared since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to eradicate groups taking refuge in Afghan territory while preparing to attack Pakistan.
The Taliban government has insisted it will not allow foreign militant groups to operate from Afghanistan, but relations between Islamabad and Kabul have deteriorated over the issue.
LA-STM/ECL/SMW
