Death toll surges to 43 in tribal clashes in northwest Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – At least 43 people have been killed in tribal clashes erupted over a land dispute in northwest Pakistan over one week, authorities and locals said on Monday.

Intermittent clashes are still continuing in several parts of volatile Kurram district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders neighboring Afghanistan, despite a ceasefire brokered by tribal elders on Sunday, Sahid Turi, a former lawmaker from the district, told Anadolu on telephone.

Nearly 180 people have been injured in the clashes in last one week, Mir Hassan Jan, the medical superintendent of the Kurram District Head­quarters Hospital, told reporters.

Confirming the death toll, Turi, who is also a member of the “jirga” or tribal assembly, which is trying to maintain the fragile cease-fire, said that another eight people were killed in overnight artillery duels between the rival tribes.

Clashes initially erupted over a land dispute between Boshehra and Maleekhel tribes but later triggered into sectarian skirmishes in different parts of the district, according to Turi.

“Cease-fire has been implanted in several areas but some parts are still under fire, “ Turi further said.

“We are trying our best to fully put out violence, “ he added.

Rival tribes are using rockets and mortars against each other, Ali Afzal, a local journalist, told Anadolu on telephone.

Located some 218 kilometers (135 miles) off the provincial capital Peshawar, Kurram district has seen frequent tribal and sectarian clashes in recent years. The district’s Parachinar town is one of the few Shia-dominated areas in largely Sunni Pakistan.