SOST: A tense night unfolded in the Pak-China border town of Sost as police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel clashed with protesting traders, leading to tear gas shelling, aerial firing, and stone-pelting. The unrest, however, subsided by morning when security forces retreated to their stations, while the Tajir Ittehad Action Committee sit-in entered its 32nd consecutive day.
Eyewitnesses reported that the confrontation began around 4:30 am when youth from Nagar and Hunza reached Sost to express solidarity with the protesters amid rumours of an impending operation. Clashes erupted near Dry Port Chowk, with police and FC personnel using tear gas and aerial firing, while protesters allegedly responded by pelting stones.
Hospital sources confirmed that seven policemen sustained minor injuries, while one driver, critically injured in the head, was shifted to Gilgit. Security forces also detained four drivers from Nagar, accused of bringing convoys of supporters to the protest site.
Protest leaders, in an emergency press conference, accused police and FC personnel of not only using tear gas but also opening live fire on demonstrators.
Earlier, Superintendent of Police Hunza, Capt (R) Nabeel Ahmed, clarified that there was no plan for a crackdown. He stated that the security presence was to arrest an individual accused of extorting traders at the customs and immigration facility. “We requested the sit-in organisers to hand over the accused, but they refused,” he added.
The Tajir Ittehad Action Committee has reiterated its two-point demand: exemption of Gilgit-Baltistan traders from border taxes, citing the region’s lack of parliamentary representation, and the introduction of a one-time special scheme for around 300 containers stranded at Sost Dry Port for over a year.
The ongoing protest has already crippled trade and passenger movement through the Khunjerab Pass. Although traders briefly allowed customs and immigration operations to resume earlier this week following assurances from a federal committee, they have now re-closed all cross-border activity in response to the overnight clashes.
