At least two villagers were killed and seven others wounded when a group of armed men attacked Mehran Bijarani village in Shikarpur on Sunday.

According to reports, a group of armed men belonging to the Teghani community attacked the village and killed two villagers identified as Ameer Bakhsh and Janib Khan and injured seven others identified as Walidad, Adam, Punhal, Ashraf, Gulsher, Muhammad Yahya and Muhammad Nooh, all of whom belonged to the Bijarani community.

Upon receiving word of the attack, the area police rushed to the spot and resorted to firing in order to stop the attackers. During the course of firing, two alleged criminals of the Teghani community were killed while other assailants managed to flee from the scene of the crime.

The area police shifted the bodies to Taluka Headquarters (THQ) Hospital Khanpur for post-mortem examination.

The injured were taken to the THQ hospital for medical attention but owing to their precarious condition, were referred to Civil Hospital Shikarpur for further medical treatment after provision of first aid.

SSP Shikarpur Masood Bangash confirmed the killing of four men including two criminals and said that "the police have controlled the situation and deployed a heavy contingent there to avoid further loss of precious lives".

He added that the police department has been working to devise a plan to cope with tribal clashes since his posting.

Shikarpur is infamous for deadly disputes and bloodshed over trivial issues between many tribes in Garhi Yasin Taluka and Khanpur Taluka.

Last year on July 3 at least 16 people, including three passersby on the road, were shot dead over the course of a single day in deadly clashes between two groups of Jatoi tribesmen.

When police personnel had tried to enter the area to prevent further losses, the armed men attacked with rocket launchers on the force's Armoured Personnel Carrier [APC] to keep them from entering the area.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Home Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal had taken notice of the conflict which was later settled owing to police pressure.

According to police sources, so far at least 21 villagers from the Teghani and Bijarani tribes, including a few criminals, have been killed and 19 others have sustained bullet wounds in deadly disputes which started in 2009 over cattle theft and the ownership of a piece of agricultural land.

Neither FIRs were registered nor arrests were made at the time this story was filed.