The long-running communal tension in Kurram district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has once again turned into violence. More than 70 people have died in the last four days.
This area is adjacent to the border with Afghanistan and is known for beautiful hilly areas. A land dispute between Shia and Sunni tribes turned violent in late July, leaving at least 46 people dead.
The administration then imposed travel restrictions and tightened security, but these measures failed to stop internecine violence. There have been so many murders here in the last decade that this district has become a graveyard.
latest incidents of violence
On October 12, 15 people were killed in an attack on a convoy. After this, 42 people were killed in another attack.
32 people lost their lives in another attack on Saturday. Mahmood Ali Jan, a member of the local peace committee and member of the tribal council (jirga), said people have been allowed to travel only in caravans in the area for the past few months.
After the incident of October 12, the roads were completely closed. In early November, thousands of people gathered in Parachinar for a “peace march” demanding the government increase security in the district of 8 lakh people. More than 45% of the population of this district comes from Shia community.
attempts to control the situation
According to Al-Jazeera, Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud said that the administration has allowed travel through convoys four days a week.
“We have made arrangements for Shia and Sunni groups to travel together and hope the situation will improve soon,” he said. Mehsud also assured that the supply of medicines, food items and other essential commodities is continuing in the district.
History of communal violence
Kurram has a long history of tension between Shia and Sunni communities. In recent decades, this mountainous region adjacent to Afghanistan’s Khost, Paktia and Nangarhar provinces has become a center of attraction for armed groups. The deadliest violence took place here between 2007 and 2011, in which more than 2,000 people were killed.
The region has also come under attack from terrorist groups such as the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) and ISIS, who are notorious for violence against the Shia community. Following the July violence, an inter-tribal ceasefire was signed on 2 August, but violence erupted again in the region in late September, when at least 25 people were killed.
Question on the role of government
Local people say that the Shahbad Sharif government of Pakistan is watching the show with folded hands. National Democratic Movement (NDM) chief and former MP Mohsin Dawar has raised questions on the intentions of the government. “It seems that the government deliberately wants to keep the region in chaos,” he said. “Killings are avenged by killings, and it becomes a cycle of violence.”
Efforts by the administration and the peace committee are ongoing to bring the situation under control, but questions remain as to when this cycle of violence will end.
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