At least 82 folks have been killed and 156 injured throughout three days of intense sectarian clashes in northwestern Pakistan, an area official reported Sunday.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority nation however Kurram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – close to the border with Afghanistan – has a big Shiite inhabitants and the communities have clashed for many years.
The newest bout of violence started Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims touring below police escort have been ambushed, killing no less than 43 and sparking two days of gun battles.
“The clashes and convoy attacks on Nov. 21, 22, and 23 have resulted in 82 fatalities and 156 injuries,” stated an area administration official talking on situation of anonymity.
“Among the deceased 16 were Sunni, while 66 belonged to the Shia community,” he instructed Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Around 300 households fled Saturday because the gunfights with each mild and heavy weapons continued into the night time, nevertheless, no recent casualties have been reported Sunday morning.
“The mobile network across Kurram remains suspended and traffic on the main highway is halted,” stated the native administration official.
Police have recurrently struggled to stymy violence in Kurram, which was a part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas till it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
A delegation from the provincial authorities held talks with the Shiite neighborhood Saturday and was scheduled to fulfill the Sunni neighborhood later Sunday.
A safety official within the provincial capital of Peshawar instructed AFP the negotiators’ helicopter had come below hearth because it arrived within the area, though nobody was harmed.
“Our priority today is to broker a cease-fire between both sides. Once that is achieved, we can begin addressing the underlying issues,” provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi stated Sunday.
Last month no less than 16 folks, together with three ladies and two kids, have been killed in a sectarian conflict in Kurram.
Previous clashes in July and September killed dozens of individuals and ended solely after a jirga, or tribal council, known as a cease-fire.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated 79 folks died between July and October in sectarian clashes.
Several hundred folks demonstrated towards the violence Friday in Pakistan’s second-largest metropolis of Lahore and Karachi, the nation’s industrial hub.
Source: www.dailysabah.com