Sectarian violence kills 130 in Pakistan’s northwest in the last 10 days

Sectarian violence has killed at least 130 people and wounded 200 others in Pakistan’s northwest in the last 10 days, officials said Sunday.

Violence flared in Kurram district on Nov. 21 when gunmen ambushed a vehicle convoy and killed 52 people, mostly Shiite Muslims. Nobody claimed responsibility for the assault, which triggered retaliatory firing and arson by rival groups in several areas.

Over the past 24 hours alone, 14 people have died and 27 have been injured in fighting. Government officials brokered a seven-day ceasefire on Nov. 24 but it didn’t hold.

Shiite Muslims dominate parts of the district, although they are a minority in the rest of the country. They generally live peacefully alongside Sunni Muslims, who are the majority in Pakistan.

But dozens from both sides have been killed in Kurram since July, when a land dispute turned into general sectarian violence.

The deputy commissioner of Kurram, Javed Ullah Mehsud, said talks were underway with tribal elders to negotiate a ceasefire and that security personnel had been deployed to enforce the peace.

Mehsud also said that authorities have restored internet and mobile services in the area.

But the main highway linking the city of Parachinar with the provincial capital Peshawar remains closed to all traffic, leading to shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Trade and movement at the Kharlachi border with Afghanistan has stopped.

Kurram elder Mir Afzal Khan said the violence had affected all aspects of life. People were unable to travel and the scarcity of food and medicine was causing significant hardship, he added.

Kurram is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where armed groups like the Pakistani Taliban operate. The Pakistani army said Sunday that eight militants had died in separate operations in the province.

Associated Press