Tribal war over land leaves 11 dead in NW Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Fierce fighting between two rival tribes in northwestern Pakistan over a piece of land claimed another two lives on Tuesday, raising the casualties to 11 over the past five days, officials and local media reported.

The clashes involving heavy weapons, including rockets from both sides, have brought life to a standstill in several parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram tribal district, which sits on the Afghanistan border.

Confirming the fresh casualties, Kurram's Deputy Commissioner Syed Saif-ul-Islam told reporters that tribal elders are negotiating with the rival groups in an attempt to halt the clashes.

Some 67 people from both tribes, including unarmed tribesmen, have been injured in the clashes, health officials said.

Seven people, including five teachers, were killed in May this year when gunmen opened fire in a high school in the Shia-dominated Parachinar town, the administrative headquarters of Kurram district.

Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Sajid Hussain Turi, who hails from Kurram, told reporters that he himself is involved in negotiations aimed to broker a cease-fire between the rival tribes.

He hinted that army troops could be posted in the region to contain clashes.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in a statement, said there are “alarming reports of rising militancy feeding into local conflicts” in the region.

The human rights group urged the government to "immediately undertake to resolve all sectarian differences peacefully and restore law and order to this region."

Clashes over land and ownership of mountains have long been frequent in the country's seven tribal districts along the Afghanistan border, claiming hundreds of lives in recent decades.