ISLAMABAD: More than 30 people have been killed and dozens injured in renewed clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslim groups in the restive region of Pakistan. Kurram Tribal District in the northwest.
The communal violence followed Thursday’s deadly attack on a convoy of around 200 vehicles in Kurram that killed around 50 people and injured many others.
Fresh clashes erupted soon after the last rites were held for the victims in their respective villages on Friday. Local politician Adul Nabi Bangash of Parachinar, the district headquarters, told TOI that a group of Shia Muslims attacked Sunni areas, such as Bagan Bazar, with light and heavy weapons on Friday night. He revealed that immediately after Thursday’s incident, both sides raised troops.
A local administration official said 18 Shias and 14 Sunnis were among those killed in the latest clashes. About 50 others were injured in the overnight fighting.
Kurram District Health Officer Dr. Qaiser Abbas confirmed the casualties and described the condition of the nine injured as critical.
Eyewitnesses said armed men barged into stores, petrol stations, houses and government buildings in the Bagan and Bacha Kot neighborhoods of Kurram after Friday prayers. Social media users shared videos and pictures of the market burning with orange flames in the night sky. Gunshots are also heard in the background.
Businesses, educational institutions and markets remained closed for the second consecutive day in Parachinar and surrounding areas on Saturday. Describing the situation as extremely tense, officials said that the mobile phone signal has been suspended in the entire district. However, internet services in the region have been down for several months.
About 150 people have been killed in recent months as sectarian violence escalated in the mountainous district, which borders Afghanistan on three sides.
Previous clashes in July and September, which left dozens dead, ended only after the Council of Elders called for a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, thousands of people took part in a dharna in Parachinar, where protesters criticized the government’s failure to protect civilians. Shop owners in the region announced a three-day strike on Friday to protest the attack while locals described an atmosphere of fear across the district.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which came a week after authorities reopened the region’s main highway, which had been closed for months following deadly clashes. Speculations of involvement of a banned terrorist group are also rife Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has recently been active in the lower part of Kurram. But government officials attributed the incident to a land dispute.
