Sectarian Violence In Pakistan Resumes As Shia-Sunni Groups Break Ceasefire: Report

Last Updated:November 25, 2024, 23:07 IST

At least 88 people were killed in sectarian violence last week as tensions between Shia and Sunni Muslims rose over a land dispute.

Shiite Muslims hold placards and shout slogans during a protest march against the sectarian attacks in Kurram district. (AFP)

Bitter sectarian violence in the Kurram tribal district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that killed more than 80 people in three days resumed again on Monday, according to the local government, breaching a hard-fought seven-day ceasefire.

The truce between Sunni and Shia Muslims fighting over a land dispute in Kurram was agreed upon Sunday but “reports of tribal clashes and gunfire continue to emerge from several areas", Kurram deputy commissioner Javedullah Mehsud told AFP.

A security official in Kurram also confirmed “clashes are ongoing" in at least three areas but said that no fresh casualties had yet been reported.

The death toll in Kurram rose to 88 on Monday amid tribal tensions, a health official told Dawn. Violence erupted in the area on Thursday when a convoy of 200 vehicles carrying Shiite Muslims came under heavy gunfire in Bagan town, killing 43 people and sparking two days of gun battles.

Painstaking Seven-Day Ceasefire Broken

A delegation from the provincial government held talks with the Shiite community on Saturday and met the Sunni community on the next day, after which a seven-day cease-fire was brokered between the two warring tribes.

Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, in a statement, said that as part of the agreement, elders from both tribes agreed to return prisoners and the bodies of those killed on both sides. Saif also announced a commission to settle land disputes between the two sides.

Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country but Kurram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province — near the border with Afghanistan — has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades. Police have regularly failed to curb violence in Kurram, and sporadic incidents of tribal clashes have fuelled panic in the area.

Kurram District Health Officer Dr Qaisar Abbas told Dawn on Monday the death toll rose to 88 people killed while 111 were injured, and the death toll was expected to rise as the injured were in critical injured due to lack of facilities.

(with inputs from agencies)

Peshawar, Pakistan

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