ISLAMABAD: At least 64 people have been killed this week in a fresh outbreak of violence involving the Pashtun Sunni and Shia tribes of Pakistan‘s militancy-prone Kurram district along the Afghanistan border in the northwest, where a ceasefire had been signed just over a month ago.
Governor Faisal Karim Kundi of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said dozens on either side were wounded in the fighting, which continued Friday amid reports of higher casualties than the official figure.
Police said the clashes started after the Boshehra Shias of upper Kurram started setting up bunkers on land belonging to the Sunni Ahmadzai community last week. The dispute quickly engulfed other areas and became a full-blown sectarian conflict, they said.
In Aug, the warring sides signed a truce after clashes resulted in 50 deaths and injuries to over 200 people.
Security officials said the renewed fighting led to closure of roads, triggering a shortage of food, medicines and fuel. Educational institutions have also remained shut for a week.
Kurram, a mountainous area that shares a long border with Afghanistan, is home to about 700,000 people, of which more than 42% belong to the Shia community. The district’s Parachinar town is one of the few Shia-dominated areas in largely Sunni Pakistan. The region has seen frequent tribal and sectarian clashes in recent years.