Tribal clashes which have been ongoing for the past seven days in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram District claiming 49 lives and leaving more than 200 people injured have come to a halt, the deputy commissioner (DC) said on Tuesday. According to the police and district administration, armed clashes between Boshehra and Maleekhel tribesmen had begun on the evening of July 24. Despite efforts from a jirga of elders from the Hangu and Orakzai districts to secure a ceasefire, fighting had continued, with both sides resorting to using heavy weapons to target each other’s positions. Soon the hostilities spread to other areas, including Peewar, Tangi, Balishkhel, Khaar Kalay, Maqbal, Kunj Alizai, Para Chamkani, and Karman. “Both tribes have agreed to a ceasefire and the clashes have been halted since last night,” Kurram DC, Javedullah Mehsud, told.

“The parties were made to clear the bunkers [and] security forces have been deployed there, while no gunfires were reported at five locations of Kurram District,” he asserted. He added that a ceasefire brokered by jirga members on Sunday was “largely” being adhered to but fights resumed on Monday as well. The medical superintendent of the District Headquarters Hospital, Dr Mir Hassan Jan, said that the killing of 14 more people on Monday took the death toll to 49 He revealed that 210 people were left injured as a result of the clashes, with at least 12 critically wounded people shifted to Peshawar for treatment. Following Monday’s ceasefire, further efforts to sustain peace in the region were under way, Mehsud said, adding that a grand jirga, Kohat’s general officer commanding (GOC) of nine infantry divisions, and Kohat division’s deputy inspector-general and commissioner were present in the Parachinar city for peace efforts.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan