Pakistan’s Peshawar A seven-day ceasefire agreement between competing sectarian groups was brokered by a Pakistani government team on Sunday, ending days of fighting in the country’s northwest that has left at least 68 people dead and several others injured, according to one of the mediators.
At least 40 people, primarily Shiite Muslims, were killed when gunmen assaulted convoys of civilian vehicles on Thursday, sparking the bloodshed. Sunni Muslim citizens became the target of reprisal attacks as a result, and armed organizations from both sides have engaged in fierce combat.
A land dispute in Kurram district, close to the Afghan border, has led to decades of tribal and sectarian conflict between armed Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
Muhammad Ali Saif, a member of the mediation team, told Reuters over the phone that heavy fighting had already ceased and that both sides had agreed to a week-long ceasefire that is anticipated to be extended.
Both sides have also agreed to exchange inmates, including women, and the corpses of those slain in the battles, according to Saif, who is also the information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which is home to Kurram.
Pakistani paramilitary forces will assist in the exchange of the remains and captives.
With the entire district under virtual curfew and armed gangs prowling the streets of numerous towns, the team met Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders upon their arrival in Parachinar, Kurram’s capital, on Saturday.
Smaller clashes that had been recorded in isolated parts of the district should also stop after news of the ceasefire spreads, according to Saif.
According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police head Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, another part of the mediation team, Shiite leaders are calling for the rapid arrest of those responsible for the attacks on passenger cars, as well as restitution for the victims and guarantees of traveler safety.
No one has taken responsibility, and the government has not yet publicly identified or named the perpetrators.
According to two government sources who wished to remain anonymous because of the delicate nature of the situation, the number of people killed by retaliatory violence since Thursday’s bus attacks has increased to at least 28, bringing the total to 68.
Armed groups broke into communities where members of opposing sects lived. According to the government, a number of gas stations were set on fire, markets and schools are still shuttered, and many households have been evacuated.
They expressed concern that the death toll would increase because it is hard to get information in the area due to downed connectivity.
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