82 people died in three days in sectarian conflicts in Pakistan

At least 82 people were killed and 156 more injured in three days of violent sectarian clashes in northwestern Pakistan, a local official said on Sunday.

Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but the Kurram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan, has a large Shiite population, and the communities have been in conflict for decades.

The latest outbreak of violence began on Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing at least 43 people and sparking two days of gunfights.

“The clashes and convoy attacks on November 21, 22 and 23 resulted in 82 deaths and 156 injuries,” said a local government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“16 of the dead were Sunni and 66 belonged to the Shiite community,” he told AFP.

Approximately 300 families fled due to ongoing clashes with light and heavy weapons on Saturday, but there were no new casualties on Sunday morning.

“Mobile network across Kurram remains suspended and traffic on the main highway has also been stopped,” the local government official said.

Police have regularly struggled to curb violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.

A delegation from the provincial government held talks with the Shiite community on Saturday and is scheduled to meet with the Sunni community later on Sunday.

A security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar told AFP that the negotiators’ helicopter came under fire when it arrived but no one was hurt.

“Our priority today is to achieve a ceasefire between both sides. Once this is achieved, we can start resolving the basic issues,” State Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said on Sunday. he said.

At least 16 people, three women and two children, were killed in the sectarian conflict in Kurram last month.

Earlier clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a jirga, or tribal council, called for a ceasefire.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people died in sectarian clashes between July and October.

Hundreds of people demonstrated against violence in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, and Karachi, the country’s commercial hub, on Friday.