Fighting restarts, breaking truce in Kurram

26 Nov, 2024

PESHAWAR: Bitter sectarian fighting which killed more than 80 people last week restarted on Monday, officials said, breaching a painstakingly brokered ceasefire.

A seven-day truce between Sunnis and Shias in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was agreed on Sunday but “reports of tribal clashes and gunfire continue to emerge from several areas”, Kurram deputy commissioner Javedullah Mehsud told AFP.

A security official stationed in Kurram who asked not to be named confirmed “clashes are ongoing” in at least three areas but said that no fresh casualties had yet been reported.

The latest violence began last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shias travelling under police escort were ambushed, sparking two days of gun battles.

A total of 82 people were killed and 156 more wounded before the regional government brokered the short-lived ceasefire on Sunday night.

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