A series of shooting incidents believed to be linked to a tribal land feud in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province have left at least 15 people dead and 12 injured, local elders and district officials told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal on October 12.
A senior district official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the first incident occurred when unidentified gunmen opened fire on three people who had traveled to Kunj Alizu mountain, causing injuries.
Local elder Imran Maqbal told Radio Mashaal that 14 people were killed and nine injured in a second attack in the Kurram District. The clashes -- believed to be related -- resulted in the closure of public offices, schools, and roads, while authorities also shut down mobile Internet in the district.
The Af-Pak Monitor group, activists, and locals posted photos and videos on social media showing the victims of the shooting.
Dozens of people in recent weeks have been killed in clashes between armed Shi’ite and Sunni Muslim groups over land disputes. Sunnis and Shi’a have lived in close proximity for decades in the area, but armed clashes have occasionally broken out over land, forests, and other properties and religious differences.
The latest violence comes after a nine-day cease-fire that had been agreed to by Sunnis and Shi'ite leaders on September 28.
Health officials, police, and local leaders say 44 people have been killed and more than 130 injured in clashes in the area since September 20.
In 2008 a peace deal was reached between Shi'a and Sunnis. The agreement stipulated that both sides would keep all roads open, prevent the deterioration of security, allow the displaced to return to their villages, and resolve land disputes based on ancient documents and Pashtun tradition in the name of paper property.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, in Pakistan's northwest, has been the site of sectarian violence over the years, including attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan.