Janikhel protest

On 21 March 2021, a mass grave containing the mutilated corpses of four teenage boys was found by a shepherd's dog in the Janikhel area of Bannu District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. As the locals, including the victims’ relatives, dug up the bodies, one was found to have been beheaded,^[3][4][5] one had been shot, and the other two had been stoned to death.^[6] The victims were identified; they were between 13 and 17 years and were fond of hunting birds and wild hares in the area.^[7] The boys had gone hunting three weeks before and had since disappeared.^{[8][9][4][10]}

Soon after discovering the bodies, a protest sit-in started in Janikhel. On 28 March, about 10,000 protesters embarked on a long march from Janikhel to Peshawar and Islamabad with the dead bodies to demand action against militants. The local police erected hurdles on the road and used teargas and aerial firing to stop the protesters for several hours.^[11] Manzoor Pashteen and Mohsin Dawar, leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), were taken into custody by the police in Kohat and Karak, respectively, to prevent them from travelling to Bannu to join and lead the long march.^[12] On 29 March, as the protesters had reached Dami Pul in Domel, Bannu, the 8-day protest was postponed after an agreement was signed with them by Mahmood Khan, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.^[13]

On 31 May, Malik Naseeb Khan, one of the tribal chiefs of Janikhel, was assassinated by militants, which sparked another wave of protest. The protesters refused to bury the slain chieftain, and vowed that they would continue the protest until the killers were punished.^[14][15] On 23 June, a protester named Wahid Khan was shot dead and several others were injured as the police blocked the protesters from marching towards Islamabad.^[16][17] On 27 June, the tribesmen ended the 27-day protest after the authorities released four missing men from Janikhel who had been victims of enforced disappearance.^[16]