Death toll in Kurram clashes soars to 49

PARACHINAR: The warring tribes in Kurram tribal district on Monday continued to exchange heavy fire as the death toll has climbed to 49 with 190 people injured over the last six days.

Though the district administration and the jirga members convinced the two sides to hold the fire, the clashes still occurred in some places. Twelve of the critically injured were referred to hospitals in Peshawar.

The fighting has disrupted the routine life throughout the district. The clashes started in Boshera area over the ownership of a piece of land, which spread to other places in the Kurram tribal district bordering Afghanistan.

The clashes started six days ago between members of two tribes in the Kurram tribal district over a land dispute. Initially, the clashes broke out at Boshera, which later spread to other areas including Peewar, Tangi, Balishkhel, Khaar Killay, Maqbal, Kunj Alizai and Para Chamkani area.

The local authorities claimed a day ago that they had managed to broker a ceasefire between the feuding tribes, who continued to exchange heavy fire that claimed more lives, taking the death toll to 49. The number of the injured was put at 190.

On Sunday, Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mahsud said that members of the jirga along with the district administration had held successful talks with the warring tribes in Kurram and persuaded them to vacate their positions.

He had said that they had managed to broker a ceasefire in Boshera area and deployed the personnel of the security forces at Balishkhel and Khar kallay areas. However, another raid was conducted at night from Khar Killay in Balishkhel area due to which the ceasefire did not last long.

The jirga members along with the local administration, the police and security forces were making efforts to broker a ceasefire and stop the bloodshed. It was reported that the two sides were using heavy weapons during the clashes. Rockets were also fired at the Sadda and Parachinar.

The main Parachinar-Peshawar road was also closed to traffic due to the clashes. The transportation of goods came to a halt to the fighting which created a shortage of food items and medicines in Kurram. The educational institutions were closed due to the clashes.