At least 28 killed as Pakistani tribes use mortars and rockets during clashes

About 145 people injured in violence sparked by land dispute in Khurram district near Afghanistan border

File. People walk near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan (EPA)

At least 28 people have been killed and 145 injured in clashes sparked by a tribal land dispute in Pakistan’s Khurram, a volatile district near the border with Afghanistan.

The fighting between the tribes of Boshehra and Maleekhel erupted on Wednesday and was still ongoing on Sunday despite efforts by a jirga, a tribal assembly, to restore calm, The Tribune reported. The warring tribes have been using sophisticated weaponry, including mortar shells and rocket launchers, to target each other’s settlements, including in Parachinar and Sadda, the main cities in Kurram.

“We have 28 dead and another 145 wounded that had been brought or are being treated at the district’s hospitals,” Dr Mir Hassan Jan, head of the District Headquarters Hospital in Parachinar, told Arab News.

The fighting has closed the road from Parachinar to Peshawar, causing losses to traders and farmers who are angry with the government for failing to contain the situation.

Sajid Hussain Turi, a former federal minister from the area, said the violence is causing a shortage of food and essential medicines.

“The two sides are pounding each other and nearby villages with heavy and small weapons,” he said.

Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, earlier warned that “no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands or disturb the peace of the area”. He urged the tribes to “resolve the property issue through a jirga according to tribal traditions”.

Kurram is no stranger to deadly tribal and sectarian conflicts. A conflict that erupted in 2007 continued for four years before it was resolved with the help of a jirga.