Sept 27, 2024
By Rehan Paracha
LAHORE:
Tribal clashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district have reportedly claimed lives of 36 people and injured 80 others, according to news reports.
Last week, fighting between rival tribes began over the construction of bunkers in Bushehra area of Upper Kurram, and spread to other parts of the district.
Clashes have paralysed life in Parachinar, the district’s capital. The Peshawar-Parachinar highway is blocked. Educational institutions remain closed since the fighting began six days ago.
The district administration held talks with jirga but failed to broker a ceasefire.
The Kurram Bar Association has moved a local court over the frequent tribal clashes and lawlessness, which have made life of common people miserable. “The court is to hear the case on September 27,” Arif Abbas Turi, president of Kurram Bar Association, told Voicepk.net.
He said the local administration’s reliance on jirgas to restore peace has led to worsening law and order in the district. “We have sought the court’s intervention so that the administration and security forces are held accountable over their inaction in ending the fighting,” he added.
This border district has long witnessed Shia-Sunni clashes. Speaking at a joint press conference in Peshawar on September 26, tribal elders from Kurram belonging to both sects slammed government’s complacency in restoring peace. They called on the provincial government to swiftly act against terrorists and miscreants that were thwarting a ceasefire between rival tribes.
Last month, 46 people were killed and 200 injured in clashes over a land dispute in Kurram district.