PESHAWAR: The loss of life toll from sectarian violence in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province surged to 130, with no less than six folks killed and eight injured on Sunday, as clashes within the risky Kurram district continued for the eleventh consecutive day. The clashes between Alizai and Bagan tribes within the district began on November 22, after an assault on a convoy of passenger vans close to Parachinar during which 47 folks had been killed a day earlier. A number of passengers who had sustained grave accidents succumbed later, elevating the toll within the convoy killing to 57.
Police stated the scenario remained tense, and violence persists regardless of a current ceasefire settlement between the Sunni and Shia teams. The six new deaths reported on Sunday introduced the loss of life toll to 130, whereas the whole variety of injured rose to 186 after eight contemporary accidents had been reported.
The 10-day truce brokered final week has been rendered ineffective by intermittent violence, which exhibits no indicators of abating.
The continued violence compelled the closure of the principle Peshawar-Parachinar Street for journey, and commuting on the Pak-Afghan Kharlachi border has additionally been suspended. The closure of the principle arteries has created a shortage of oil, meals commodities and medicines within the area.
The Kurram area can be experiencing a communication blackout, with cellular and web companies suspended and academic establishments closed. Police and different safety forces personnel had been deployed in numerous components of Decrease Kurram, stated Deputy Commissioner Javed Ullah Mehsud, including that all-out efforts will likely be made for a truce in different areas right now as properly.
“We’re looking forward to progress on a ceasefire and reopening of transport routes,” he acknowledged. Earlier efforts to mediate peace, together with a seven-day truce brokered by provincial officers in November have failed to carry.
A high-powered delegation, together with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry and IGP Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, had additionally negotiated a ceasefire final weekend, however violence resumed shortly afterwards.
