KOHAT, Oct 9: After turning a shrine into rubble during a seven-day battle over its ownership, the warring tribes in Orakzai Agency agreed on Monday, at the request of a grand jirga from Kurram Agency, to a temporary ceasefire.

A 15-tribe Sunni alliance and a three-tribe Shia alliance announced a peace agreement reached between the elders from both sides in Kurram Agency.

Sources said that soon after the truce, some shots were fired on Sher Alam Mehsud, the political administrator of Orakzai Agency, when he was going to the shrine for inspection. Mr Mehsud was unharmed, the sources confirmed.

They said that one more body was found in the shrine, one from a nearby seminary and two from hemp fields on Monday.

The Sunni community, which was earlier not ready to negotiate, agreed to the ceasefire because they had regained control of the whole Layra area, 2 kilometres from Kalaya, the headquarters of the Orakzai Agency.

According to the peace agreement, both the communities would hand over control of the shrine to the political administration which would decide on its ownership on the recommendations of another grand jirga comprising elders from Orakzai and Kurram agencies.

Authorities said the ceasefire was achieved through the efforts of federal Culture Minister Dr G. G. Jamal, ex-senator from Kurram Agency Sajjad Ali Shah, MNA Javed Hussain and former MNA Haji Munir Said who remained engaged with elders of both the sides for three days.

The ceasefire became effective at 2pm. Other members of the jirga from Kurram Agency were Haji Gul Akbar (from Ali Sherzai), Haji Mohammad Alam (Para Chamkani), Haji Mehmood, Sadda (Kurram Agency), Haji Mohammad Khan (Para Chamkani), Malik Syed Abbas and Malik Ajab Khan.

The Shia community moved back to their area across the Toi River which divides the land between the Sunnis in the north and the Shias in the south.