At least 25 people have been killed and dozens wounded in days of clashes between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in northwestern Pakistan, officials said Wednesday. The violence, stemming from a protracted land dispute, erupted over the weekend in Kurram, a volatile district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border.
The fighting, which began on Saturday, continued into Wednesday, as both sides exchanged fire. Authorities warned that the conflict, centered on a longstanding territorial dispute, threatened to escalate into broader sectarian violence in the region. Kurram has long been a flashpoint for sectarian tensions.
“We are trying to contain the situation to prevent further violence,” said Barrister Saif Ali, a spokesperson for the provincial government. He added that officials, with the help of tribal elders, had brokered a temporary cease-fire after peace talks. Both sides, he said, had agreed to suspend hostilities, though the situation remained fragile.
Shiites, who constitute roughly 15 percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people, have faced sporadic violence in the Sunni-majority country. While relations between the two communities are generally peaceful, sectarian tensions have flared periodically, especially in areas like Kurram, where Shiites form a significant portion of the population.
The current clashes mirror violence from earlier this year. In July, dozens were killed in fighting over the same land dispute, underscoring the deep-rooted tensions in the region.Local authorities are now working to prevent the conflict from spreading further, particularly in a region where extremist groups on both sides have a history of exploiting such tensions to fuel unrest.
