KURRAM: The traders of Parachinar observed a shutter down strike on Tuesday against closure of ThallParachinar Road for more than six months.

The protest call was given by Parachinar Traders Union and all bazaars and markets of Parachinar city and its outskirts remained closed throughout the day.

Addressing a press conference, trader leaders Haji Imdad Ali and others accused the administration of taking bribe to include trucks in convoy, which transported basic necessities to the besieged town under government security.

They said that officials were not reopening the road despite signing of eight-month peace deal agreed on March 29 and traders were being fleeced to include their vehicles in the convoy. They demanded immediate reopening of all roads in the district.

Haji Imdad Ali, president of Parachinar Traders Union, told Dawn that they observed the strike to demand reopening of the main road and making it safe for commuters and trade activities.

He said that Parachinar city and its outskirts were facing shortages of food, medicines and other edibles. He said that no books were available for schools, which started new academic session at the start of March. He said that children were going to schools without textbooks.

Mr Ail said that no medicines were available for patients in the district. `Those falling ill have to wait for death, as they neither have medicines nor could travel to Peshawar for treatment,` he added.

He said that there was no fuel for transport in the area.

He said that petrol was being sold at Rs700 to Rs1,000 per litre in black market. He said that more than 300 trucks loaded with supplies had been waiting in Hangu district for the past several weeks to be allowed to enter the besieged town in a convoy. He said that the last convoy reached the area on March 27, ahead of Eidul Fitr.

Mr Ali also said that traders were paying more than Rs1 million to a vehicle to transport their merchandise to Parachinar. `The vehicles remain parl(ed in Hangu district for weel(s and it costs us Rs10,000 per day,` he said.

Thall-Parachinar Road has remained closed since a deadly attack on a convoy in Bagan area of Lower Kurram left more than 40 people dead. Thall-Parachinar Road, which connects the district with the rest of the province, has been closed since then and food and other medicines are transported to the besieged area in convoy. A convoy was also targeted in Lower Kurram, resulting in several casualties, looting and burning of trucks.