People belonging to the Shia community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram claim that militants were targeting them, not any religious group, journalist Mushtaq Yousafzai said on Monday.

“They say militants are in the region,” he said while appearing on Aaj News programme News Insight with Amir Zia.

“When Peshawar-Parachinar road was closed, upper Kurram peoples used the Afghanistan route or mountains tracks route. But now it seems they are besieged for more than 80 days,” he said.

When asked if the government would be able to disarm people and end bunkers, the journalist said the task was difficult to achieve as the religious groups “doubted” the government’s intention. They believe that surrendering arms, which they believe is for their defence, would make them vulnerable amid being in the crosshairs of militants.

Yousafzai, who covers the region, blamed the government for the poor law and order situation. He alleged that a lot of arms have illegally entered Pakistan via Afghanistan.

In response to a question, the journalist said that the agreement would not be implemented even if signed. “People in Kurram say this is being done to build a US base in the region.”