October 04, 2006	Wednesday	Ramazan 10, 1427

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PESHAWAR, Oct 3: An armed clash erupted between supporters of two rival sects in Orakzai Agency on Monday night. Two people were killed and 12 others were injured, sources said.

The Orakzai political administration said that one man had been killed and eight wounded. A jirga has been constituted to stop fighting, said an official.

The sources said that skirmishes continued on Tuesday and authorities dispatched paramilitary troops from Thall Garrison to bring the situation under control.

Sectarian violence occurred in the remote area when devotees of a local saint who had gathered at a shrine near Kalaya, tehsil headquarters of the Orakzai Agency, were attacked by followers of the rival sect.

Eyewitnesses said that a large number of devotees had gathered at the shrine, which provoked the followers of the rival sect and they demanded that the devotees should leave the shrine at once.

Sources said that the dispute resulted in a fierce gunbattle and both sides attacked each others’ positions including residential compounds with missiles, rockets and heavy machineguns.

They said that the overnight firing had left two people dead and 12 others wounded.

A 12-foot long surface-to-surface missile hit a paramilitary fort in Kalaya, but did not cause damage. Reports said that tension gripped the entire agency about 100 kilometres southwest of Peshawar.

Officials said that contingents of Thall Scouts had been sent to the troubled agency, the native town of the NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai to stop fighting between the two groups. A tribal jirga comprising elders from both sides has been formed to resolve the dispute.