Pakistan secretarian violence: Death toll in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rises to 124 as gunbattle rages on between Shia, Sunni

Shiite Muslims chant slogans to condemn the killing of Shiite Muslims by gunmen in an ambush in Kurram district, during a demonstration in Lahore, Pakistan on Friday (November 22, 2024). File
| Photo Credit: AP

The death toll in Khurram tribal sectarian violence rose to 124 with two more deaths on Saturday (November 30, 2024) as a gunbattle continued between Shia and Sunni groups despite a ceasefire in Pakistan’s northwestern Province Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.

“More than 170 people have been injured in the sectarian violence raging for the last ten days,” authorities said.

Province’s governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Friday (November 29, 2024) extended an offer to Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to personally visit the disturbed area.

Clashes between Alizai and Bagan tribes in the district started on November 22, after an attack on a convoy of passenger vans near Parachinar in which 47 people were killed a day earlier.

Several passengers who had sustained grave injuries succumbed later, taking the death toll to 57.

At least 37 people have been killed and scores injured over the last two days alone in the violence that began in Bagan Bazaar area and spread to other parts such as Balishkhel, Khar, Kali, Junj Alizai, and Maqbal.

The government had on Sunday (November 24, 2024) brokered a seven-day ceasefire between the Shia and Sunni communities. The truce was later extended to 10 days.

The main Peshawar-Parachinar highway has been closed to all traffic, while internet and mobile services remain suspended.

Governor Kundi also planned to dispatch members of a grand peace jirga (council of the tribal leaders) from Kohat division to Khurram district for engaging with leaders from both warring factions to negotiate peace.