QUETTA: Three people were killed and eight others injured in a clash between two rival factions of Ghabizai tribe in Qila Abdullah, a district at the border with Afghanistan, on Thursday.

Levies Force officials said that members of the two factions took positions against each other in the main market of the border town a day after their children fought over a petty issue.

The armed men from both sides continued attacking each other’s positions for several hours during which they used automatic weapons, Deputy Commissioner Qila Abdullah Tariq Mengal told Dawn when reached over telephone.

Two of the three deceased belonged to one warring group. The third man killed in the firing was an ice cream vendor who came under crossfire while passing through the area. The ice cream vendor received multiple bullet wounds and died while he was being shifted to a hospital in Quetta.

Sources said that the groups also fired rockets at each other’s positions. The firing between the groups caused suspension of traffic between Quetta and Chaman. It also affected the Afghan transit trade and other supplies between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

After receiving information about the incident, Qila Abdullah Deputy Commissioner Tariq Javed Mengal along with some tribal elders, including parliamentary leader of the Awami National Party Mohammad Asghar Khan Achakzai and some local officials, reached the area and started efforts for a ceasefire. Resultantly, the two groups agreed for a two-month ceasefire.

The deputy commissioner said that as a result of mediation by a tribal jirga headed by Asghar Khan Achakzai, the groups had agreed for a ceasefire.

The other members of the tribal jirga were Malik Usman Achakzai, Dr Sufi Akbar Kakar, Dr Hayatullah, Haji Nimatullah Kakozai, Haji Hassan Jan, Mufti Ghulam Haider Shamshozai and District Police Officer Mohammad Ali Kasi.

The local administration has deployed a heavy contingent of law enforcement personnel to stop further clashes in the area.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2021