Sunni Muslim men gather to pray during a funeral ceremony for victims killed in a tribal clash in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on October 13, 2024. Photo courtesy: AFP
At least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in fresh sectarian clashes in Pakistan’s northwest, officials said.
Sunni and Shia Muslim tribes have been engaged in intermittent fighting for several months in the Kurram district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Kurram, formerly a semi-autonomous region, has a history of bloody clashes between tribes belonging to the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, which have claimed hundreds of lives over the years.
A senior Kurram administration official said a convoy of Sunnis was traveling under the protection of paramilitary troops on Saturday (October 12, 2024) when they were attacked. AFP On condition of anonymity.
“As a result, 14 people, including 3 women and 2 children, were killed and six others were injured,” he said.
Frontier police retaliated and killed two attackers, identified as Shias, he said.
The official said the latest attack had “communal motives” that have “affected the region for the last two decades”.
“Every conflict takes on a communal dimension,” he said.
Other recent clashes in July and September left dozens dead and ended only after a jirga, or tribal council, called a ceasefire.
Officials are trying to establish a fresh ceasefire. Tribal and family feuds are common in Pakistan.
However, they can be particularly prolonged and violent in remote areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where communities follow traditional tribal honor codes.
The Shia community in Pakistan, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, has long been facing discrimination and violence.
published – October 13, 2024 05:37 PM IST