Peshawar - A provincial government team managed to mediate a seven-day ceasefire deal between rival groups in Kurram on Sunday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister and govt spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif said in a statement, ending days of clashes that have killed dozens of people and injured scores others. The provincial govt decided to constitute a high-powered commission to settle land disputes between the tribes in the Kurram district as 18 more people were killed in fresh clashes yesterday.
The violence followed Thursday’s deadly attack, when a convoy of around 200 vehicles came under heavy gunfire in Kurram’s densely populated Bagan town, killing dozens of people.
The KP chief minister’s adviser on information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, in a statement issued on Sunday, said that a ceasefire was agreed for seven days between the tribes, both of which also decided to return each other’s dead bodies and prisoners.
A government delegation met the members of the Shia tribe on Saturday before meeting the Sunni tribe leaders on Sunday, after which it returned to Peshawar, Barrister Saif said.
Earlier, while speaking to a wire service, Barrister Saif had said that there were “positive developments in engagements with stakeholders”.
Saif told a wire service that both group leaders had agreed to halt attacks that started after gunmen attacked convoys of civilian vehicles on Thursday.
At least 82 people have been killed and dozens injured after days of clashes that began Thursday. The incident sparked retaliatory attacks and gunfights between groups from both sides.
Three days of bitter gunfights in Kurram have killed at least 82 people and wounded 156 more, a local official said Sunday.
“The clashes and convoy attacks on November 21, 22, and 23 have resulted in 82 fatalities and 156 injuries,” said a local administration official speaking on condition of anonymity.
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,” said the local administration official.
Police have regularly struggled to stem violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
A security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar told a wire service 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 Sunday.
Last month at least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in a clash in Kurram.
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 clashes.
Several hundred people demonstrated against the violence on Friday in Lahore and Karachi, the country’s commercial hub.
Armed groups have attacked settlements that are populated by members of rival sects. Many homes have been evacuated, while markets and schools remain closed. A number of petrol stations have been set alight, the officials said.