The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has banned public gatherings in the Kurram district for two months as it imposed Section 144 of the CrPC amid the poor law and order situation.

Gatherings of more than five individuals are prohibited and the display of weapons is also banned during the period, said notification signed by Additional Chief Secretary Home and Tribal Officer Abid Majid.

Section 144 is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period.

Moreover, police made announcements about the curfew through loudspeakers mounted on vehicles across various locations.

The notification warned that “certain elements are attempting to exploit the current tensions to further destabilise the situation in the district.”

The development comes a day after a convoy travelling to bring aid to the region, besieged by sectarian fighting, was ambushed on Saturday. At least seven people, including Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud, were injured in the attack. They were airlifted to Peshawar.

Earlier in the day, authorities claimed that they had identified the perpetrators behind the attack. Five individuals, including facilitators, are implicated and would face arrest and prosecution, sources with police said.

The KP government has “temporarily halted” the convoy, increasing the woes of the area which has been cut off from the rest of the province for nearly three months.

An estimated 400,000 people in Upper Kurram are cut off and the supply of essential goods is disrupted. Protests continue in front of the Kurram Press Club, with demonstrators staging a sit-in to demand the reopening and securing of the road. Despite freezing temperatures, a large number of people are participating.

Protestors insist the sit-in would continue until the road is reopened and its security guaranteed. A similar protest was also staged in the Bagan area of Kurram, with participants demanding the delivery of promised relief packages.

The Kurram region has been wracked by violence for decades, but around 140 people have been killed since a fresh bout of fighting broke out in November.

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As feuding tribes have battled with machine guns and heavy weapons, the remote and mountainous region bordering Afghanistan has been largely cut off from the outside world.

After a truce was called on January 1, the convoy was attacked as it travelled to collect the first aid delivery of food and medicine sent by road since November.

According to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, the attack was “a conspiracy” intended to undo the ceasefire agreed on New Year’s Day following a council of tribal leaders from both sides.