Protesters in Pakistan block Karakoram highway, over suspension of cops in Bisham attack

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 13 (ANI): People in Pakistan's northwestern upper and lower Kohistan districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa blocked the Karakoram highway on Friday against the suspension of senior police officers following the Bisham suicide attack, Dawn reported.
Five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver were killed in a suicide bombing on March 26 while travelling between Islamabad and a hydroelectric dam construction site in Dasu, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The bus was attacked in the Bisham city of KP's Shangla district, Dawn reported on April 1.
The attack in Bisham was one of several assaults occurring within a short timeframe, all aimed at Chinese interests.
Following the deadly blast, China urged for a comprehensive investigation into the incident and emphasized the need for heightened security for its citizens. In response, Islamabad swiftly announced a probe to hold the "perpetrators and accomplices" accountable. Chinese investigators had also arrived to join the probe, as per Dawn.
Responding to the Chinese government's call for prompt action, Islamabad decided to establish a joint investigation team to thoroughly examine the attack.
According to Dawm, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took decisive action last week by ordering measures against five senior police officers due to negligence and security lapses that facilitated the Bisham attack.
Addressing a press conference, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the action was ordered against the police chiefs of Hazara division, Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan districts; Dasu Hydropower Project security director; and the commandant of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Special Security Unit.
"The inquiry report found these security officials were negligent in their duties and should have remained alert on the day of the incident," he said, adding, "Disciplinary action will be taken within 15 days," the minister said.
Today, the residents of Upper and Lower Kohistan staged protests in the main bazaars of both districts. They alleged that the officials suspended were not culpable as the attack had taken place in Shangla district's Bisham area.
They lamented that the officials of Upper and Lower Kohistan, as well as the regional police officer of Hazara division, were suspended instead of those from Malakand division, where Shangla is located. They also demanded compensation for the Pakistani driver who was martyred in the attack.
The protesters chanted slogans against Tarar while blocking the Karakoram Highway for two hours.
One of the protesters, Maulana Abdul Aziz Haqqani, said that Kohistan had remained peaceful during a surge in militancy in Malakand and other areas.
He further highlighted that after the 2021 attack in Upper Kohistan, China had received a large amount as compensation but authorities did not do the same for the Pakistani driver who was killed.
In 2021, a suicide attack targeted Chinese engineers, killing 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, and injuring over 23 passengers.
He said that he would not rest until the federal government provided compensation to the heirs of the Pakistani driver killed in the Bisham attack. He also alleged that authorities had not even visited the family of the deceased driver.
"We will not let the government continue [with] this behaviour [of] suspending the Kohistan, Hazara division police officers in a case of Shangla and Malakand division," Maulana Israr, another protester, said.
He said that the protesters wanted a transparent inquiry into the blast, adding that action should be taken against those who were responsible for the crime.
Maulana Waliullah Tawhedi said that doling out punishments to officers from Kohistan in the case of Shangla was not justified. He also demanded compensation for the Pakistani driver killed in the attack, saying that it should be equal to the amount given to the Chinese. (ANI)