As authorities enforced a curfew and shut off mobile services in the volatile area, they acknowledged on Friday that 43 people had been killed in two sectarian attacks in the Kurram district of northwest Pakistan.
In the hilly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, which is close to the Afghan border and has a history of sectarian bloodshed, gunmen targeted two different convoys of Shiite Muslims who were being escorted by police.
Senior administration official Javed Ullah Mehsud verified the revised death toll, stating that three children and seven women were among the victims. Eleven of the 16 injured, he continued, are in critical condition.
The catastrophic impact of the attacks was highlighted by a senior police officer who confirmed the fatality toll.
Authorities responded by declaring the situation “extremely tense” and enforcing a curfew and cutting off mobile services throughout the region.
In order to demand justice and more security, residents of Parachinar, the district’s principal town, staged a sit-in protest.
According to a senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity, “the bazaar remains completely closed, with all traffic suspended, and a curfew has been imposed on the main road connecting Upper and Lower Kurram.”
Conflicts between Sunni and Shiite Muslim clans have resurfaced in Kurram area in recent months.
Tribal councils, or jirgas, mediated ceasefires to put an end to previous outbursts in July and September that killed scores of people.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) denounced the attacks, attributing the violence to government inactivity.
“The frequency of such incidents confirms the failure of the federal and provincial governments to protect the security of ordinary citizens,” the HRCP stated in a statement.
In addition to offering their sympathies, officials promised to use local jirgas to restore peace. Tribal chiefs are being called in to mediate and stop the situation from getting worse.
