KURRAM: Clashes continued in different areas of Kurram district for the sixth consecutive day on Monday despite efforts by a tribal jirga to broker a ceasefire between the rival tribes.

Another 14 persons were killed during the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 49, said medical superintendent of the District Headquarters Hospital, Dr Mir Hassan Jan.

Kurram deputy commissioner Javedullah Mehsud, however, insisted that the ceasefire was largely holding and efforts were being made to extend the truce and get the high ground positions held by the rival groups vacated.

“We have given clear warnings to all those indulging in hostilities to cease fire and desist from escalating the situation. I am confident that it will have an impact,” he told Dawn on phone from the district headquarters, Parachinar.

The deputy commissioner put the death toll at 39, after six more were killed in a mortar shell.

The medical superintendent said that the number of people injured in the conflict had risen to 190. He added that at least 12 critically injured people were shifted to Peshawar for treatment.

Last week, a land dispute flared up between two rival groups of Boshehra and Maleekhel tribes, with both sides using heavy weapons to target each other’s positions. Soon the hostilities spread to other areas, including Peewar, Tangi, Balishkhel, Khaar Kalay, Maqbal, Kunj Alizai, Para Chamkani and Karman.

Rockets and missiles were also fired on Parachinar and Sadda towns during the conflict.

On Sunday, the police and the district administration had claimed that a tribal jirga from Hangu and Orakzai districts had managed to broker a ceasefire between the two sides.

Deputy commissioner Javedullah Mehsud said that the jirga members brokered a ceasefire on Sunday and continued to hold talks with the elders of both the groups in other areas to persuade them to end hostilities.

He said that the jirga managed to broker a ceasefire in more areas such as Balishkhel, Khaar Kalay, Peewar, Tari Mangal and Kunj Alizai, where the feuding sides vacated their positions and police and security forces were deployed there.

The official said that efforts for a ceasefire in Para Chamkani and Karman continued.

All educational institutions and bazaars in the affected areas remained closed, while very thin traffic plied on the roads.

The Parachinar hospital MS said that road blockades had led to a shortage of medicines and oxygen in the major health facility of the region. He said that at least 12 injured persons were shifted to Peshawar in precarious condition.

Meanwhile, a large number of people blocked the Hangu highway at three different places in Kohat on Monday to protest against the continuing hostilities in Kurram district.

The Ustarzai police in whose jurisdiction the areas fell told Dawn that the highway had been blocked in Kahca Pakha, Mohammnadzai and Nusratkhel areas.

Police officials arrived at the road blockades and held talks with the protesters to open the artery to traffic.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2024