Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], July 30 – At least seven people were killed and over 20 injured after the Pakistan Army reportedly opened fire on unarmed Pashtun protesters in the restive Tirah Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday. The incident has sparked widespread outrage among local communities and human rights groups.
The protesters had gathered outside the Frontier Corps (FC) compound in Mohmand Ghoz area to condemn the death of a young girl, allegedly killed by a mortar shell fired by Pakistani security forces a day earlier. According to Dawn, tensions escalated when the demonstrators approached the compound and were met with live gunfire from the military.
Sohail Afridi, Special Assistant for Communications and Works in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, confirmed that the crowd was agitated by the earlier shelling that struck a civilian home, killing the child. “Frustrated locals gathered at the compound’s gates, and shots were fired when the crowd approached the area,” Afridi told reporters, acknowledging casualties.
The incident has been widely condemned, particularly by the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a civil rights group that campaigns against state violence in Pashtun regions. In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), PTM Khyber denounced the military’s violent crackdown on what they described as a peaceful protest. “Unarmed civilians, including grieving family members, were targeted under the pretext of military operations and curfews,” the group said.
The violence underscores growing tensions in Pakistan’s tribal regions, where security operations often blur the line between counterterrorism and civilian repression. Activists and local leaders have long accused the Pakistan Army of using disproportionate force in Pashtun-majority areas, especially during and after counter-insurgency campaigns.
The shooting comes amid renewed scrutiny of military conduct in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, regions that have seen repeated protests against enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and curfews. Sunday’s bloodshed risks further inflaming public anger in areas already simmering with distrust toward Islamabad and the military establishment.
There has been no official statement from the Pakistan Army regarding the use of live ammunition on civilian protesters. Calls for an independent investigation are growing, with human rights organizations urging the government to hold those responsible to account.