In the past ten days, 130 people have been killed in Pakistani communal riots. At least 130 people have been murdered and 200 injured in the past ten days due to sectarian unrest in Pakistan’s northwest. CNN reported this information on Sunday, December 1.
In the past ten days: The violence took place in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Kurram district. 52 individuals, mostly Shia Muslims, were killed when gunmen ambushed a caravan in Kurram area on November 21. After this attack, protests broke out all throughout the area. Several opposing factions conducted retaliatory counterattacks and burning in several locations as no organization took credit for the attack.
A seven-day truce negotiated by government officials on November 24 did not hold. As a result, the area has seen 14 fatalities and 27 injuries in the past 24 hours.
Kurram is a Pakistani tribal region that shares a border with Afghanistan. In some parts of Kurram district, Shia Muslims make up the majority, yet they are a minority in other parts of the country. Even though they are less in number, Shia Muslims are very powerful in Kurram district.
Shia Muslims in this area usually coexist harmoniously with Pakistan’s Sunni Muslim majority. But since July, the Kurram district’s land disputes have descended into sectarian rioting, with several people killed on both sides.
“Security forces have been deployed to maintain peace, and discussions for a ceasefire are ongoing with tribal leaders,” stated Deputy Commissioner Javed Ullah Mehsud of Kurram district. Additionally, Mehsud stated, “Authorities have restored internet and mobile services in the area.”
However, there is a lack of food, fuel, and medication because the main highway that connects Parachinar city with Peshawar, the province capital, is still closed to all kinds of traffic. At the Afghan border with Kharlachi, movement and trade have also been suspended. In the past ten days…
