At least 15 people have been killed in renewed clashes between two tribes in Pakistan’s Kurram district, located near the Afghanistan border, a local official confirmed on Tuesday.
According to the AFP, the deadly conflict, initially over a land dispute, has escalated into a sectarian confrontation between Sunni and Shia groups.
According to a senior administrative official in Kurram, the violence, which began on Saturday, involved heavy weapons, including mortar shells.
“The conflict, originally about land, has evolved into a sectarian clash between the two tribes — one Sunni and the other Shia,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
The Associated Press of Pakistan reported that around 20 others have been injured in the fighting.
Kurram district, previously a semi-autonomous region, has a long history of violent tribal disputes, often fueled by sectarian differences. In July, similar clashes between the same tribes resulted in 35 deaths.
The violence only ended after a tribal council, known as a jirga, brokered a ceasefire. Efforts are now underway to negotiate another truce.
Tribal and family feuds are common in Pakistan, particularly in the rugged northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, where traditional honor codes dictate much of the local community’s actions.
Pakistan’s Shiite minority has long faced discrimination and violence in the predominantly Sunni Muslim country.
