Approximately 300 families have been forced to relocate following renewed violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims, resulting in 32 fatalities.
Around 300 families have escaped sectarian violence in north-west Pakistan, where recent clashes have claimed the lives of 32 people. The mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the Afghanistan border, has witnessed sporadic fighting between Sunni and Shia Muslims, resulting in approximately 150 deaths over the past few months.
A senior official reported, “About 300 families have moved to Hangu and Peshawar in search of safety since this morning,” and mentioned that more families are planning to leave the Kurram district. Another senior administrative official, speaking anonymously, confirmed that “fighting between Shia and Sunni communities is ongoing in multiple locations,” with Saturday’s clashes resulting in 32 fatalities—14 Sunnis and 18 Shias.
The violence erupted two days after gunmen fired upon two separate Shia Muslim convoys traveling with police escorts in Kurram, resulting in 43 deaths and leaving 11 critically injured, officials reported.
On Friday evening, Shia Muslims launched attacks on several Sunni locations in Kurram, a region that was once semi-autonomous.
Rehan Muhammad, a 33-year-old journalist from the Sunni-majority area of Bagan in Kurram, recounted fleeing his home as clashes intensified. “Gunfire suddenly erupted on Friday after sunset… I realized it was retaliation for Thursday’s incident and immediately grabbed my children, despite the bitter cold, telling my family to flee our home toward the mountains on foot,” Muhammad described. “The sight of houses in our village set ablaze was terrifying; I could see the entire village engulfed in flames. At dawn, someone shouted that the attackers had left. When I returned, nothing was left except a pile of charred debris where my house once stood.”
A senior administrative official in Kurram stated that the attacks destroyed 317 shops and over 200 homes. A senior Kurram police officer reported that around 7 p.m., “a group of enraged Shia individuals attacked the Sunni-dominated Bagan bazaar.” “After firing, they set the entire market ablaze and entered nearby homes, pouring petrol and setting them on fire,” he explained. Local Sunnis “also fired back at the attackers,” he added.
Tribal and family feuds are common in Sunni-majority Pakistan, where the Shia community has faced longstanding discrimination and violence. Javedullah Mehsud, a senior official in Kurram, mentioned efforts to restore peace “through the deployment of security forces” and with the assistance of “local elders.”
Another official noted that the region lacks sufficient police and administrative personnel, making it difficult for the federal government and provincial authorities in Peshawar to enforce the law effectively. “We informed the provincial government that the situation was critical and that additional troops needed to be urgently deployed,” the official stated under the condition of anonymity.
Last month, at least 16 people, including two children, lost their lives in a sectarian clash in Kurram. Clashes in July and September resulted in dozens of deaths and only ceased following a jirga, or tribal council, which called for a ceasefire. According to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), 79 people died in sectarian clashes between July and October.
In response to the violence, several hundred people protested on Friday in Lahore and Karachi, while in Parachinar, the main town of Kurram district, thousands held a sit-in. Hundreds attended the funerals of Thursday’s victims, who were mainly Shia civilians.
The HRCP has called on authorities to give “urgent attention” to the “alarming frequency of clashes,” warning that the situation has reached “the proportions of a humanitarian crisis.” The HRCP stated, “The fact that local rival groups clearly have access to heavy weaponry indicates that the state has been unable to control the flow of arms into the region.”
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