At least 82 killed in three days of clashes in Pakistan

Three days of bitter sectarian gunfights in northwestern Pakistan have killed at least 82 people and wounded 156 more, a local official said on Sunday.

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

The latest bout of violence began on Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite people travelling under police escort were ambushed, killing at least 43 and sparking two days of gun battles.

"The clashes and convoy attacks on November 21, 22, and 23 have resulted in 82 fatalities and 156 injuries," a local administration official speaking on condition of anonymity said.

Families flee

"Among the deceased 16 were Sunni, while 66 belonged to the Shia community," he told AFP.

Around 300 families fled on Saturday as the gunfights with both light and heavy weapons continued into the night, however no fresh casualties were reported on Sunday morning.

"The mobile network across Kurram remains suspended and traffic on the main highway is halted," the local administration official said.

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

Ceasefire

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

A security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar told AFP the negotiators' helicopter had come under fire as it arrived in the region, although no one was harmed.

"Our priority today is to broker a ceasefire between both sides. Once that is achieved, we can begin addressing the underlying issues," provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said on Sunday.

Last month at least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in clashes in Kurram.

Demonstrations

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

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

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

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