at least 32 dead after sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites

Two days after deadly anti-Shiite attacks, at least 32 people were killed in new sectarian violence on Saturday November 23 in the northwest of Pakistan, a predominantly Sunni country.

Since the summer, the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites in Kourram, a district of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, has left around 150 dead, according to consistent sources, with hostilities resuming each time despite decreed truces. by tribal councils (jirgas).

This violence, where tribal, religious and land disputes intertwine, is recurrent in Pakistan, where the Shiite minority says it has long been the victim of discrimination and attacks, particularly in Kourram.

Two convoys attacked

On Thursday, around ten attackers shot on sight at two convoys transporting Shiite families under police escort in this mountainous region. At least 43 people were killed and “11 injured” are still in a state ” critical “according to authorities.

Friday evening, after a day of high-tension funeral processions in Kourram and Shiite parades denouncing a “bloodbath”, “the situation has deteriorated”a senior police officer on site reported to AFP.

“In the evening, angry Shiites attacked the Bagan market, mainly run by Sunnis”he said. And for three hours, “the attackers armed with light and automatic weapons and mortar shells fired. Sunnis responded”.

Shops set on fire

Witnesses and officials report that the attackers dumped cans of gasoline on shops on Friday evening which ended up reduced to ashes.

On Saturday, violence between the Shiite and Sunni communities continued in several places, a member of the local administration announced to AFP, on condition of anonymity. “The latest reports show 32 deaths: 14 Sunnis and 18 Shiites”he added.

Javed Ullah Mehsud, another member of the local administration, told AFP that “hundreds of shops and houses were burned” in the Bagan market area. “Efforts are being made to bring peace. Security forces are deployed and jirgas are assembled”he added.

But, notes another official, “we don’t have enough police and administrative staff” in this former tribal area where the federal government and even the provincial government based in Peshawar are struggling to gain a foothold.

“We informed the provincial government that the situation was critical and that additional troops needed to be deployed urgently”added this official, on condition of anonymity.

The land question

In Kourram, disputes between tribes of different persuasions relate in particular to the question of land in this district where tribal codes of honor are strong and often prevail over the order that the security forces struggle to maintain.

On Friday, thousands of them demonstrated against sectarian violence, particularly in Parachinar, the district’s main town and Shiite stronghold.

In this district, from July to October, 79 people died in violence between Shiite and Sunni tribes, often arising from disputes over land, according to the Pakistan Human Rights Commission (HRCP), the main NGO defending freedoms in the country.

The HRCP believes that “the frequency of such events confirms that the federal and provincial governments have failed to protect the safety of ordinary citizens” and especially to “control the circulation of weapons in the region”.

During this week, several attacks shook the mountainous northwest of the country, killing at least 20 soldiers, while seven police officers were kidnapped for an entire day.