PARACHINAR, Nov 17: Security forces took control of Parachinar and its vicinity on Saturday after two days of clashes between two groups left 60 people dead.

Officials said that army and paramilitary forces were in control of most places.

Residents said shootout between warring groups was continuing in several parts of the town, however.

Troops have been warning warring factions through loudspeakers to stop firing and vacate their positions.

Skirmishes continued in Parachinar, Piwar-Tarimingal and Sadda-Balishkhel areas of the agency late into the evening.

Doctors at the Agency Headquarters Hospital said they had received 17 bodies and 140 wounded people.

The hospital is running short of life-saving drugs and specialist doctors are not available, as only one surgeon was there to cope with the worsening situation.

Seventeen posts of senior doctors have been lying vacant for the past many years.

Reports said that troops had targeted some locations in the surrounding of Sadda town in Lower Kurram and dislodged rival groups from their positions. Heavy reinforcements were underway to restore normalcy to the agency bordering Afghanistan.

The intensity of gunfire has reduced after helicopter gunships flew over the area.

Clashes had erupted in Parachinar on Friday after several low-intensity explosions and subsequent firing by the paramilitary forces and unidentified persons in heart of the city. Authorities called out army and clamped down curfew on the area, but it did not improve the situation.

Rival sectarian groups used mortar shells, rockets and heavy machineguns and targeted residential areas. Several houses and shops caught fire due to intense shelling.

Rival groups also clashed in Anzeri village of the agency in which three people were killed. Local people said that situation was normal in Lower Kurram Agency after overnight clashes.

Authorities recovered 10 bodies near Shashu village when unidentified persons attacked a passenger coach on Parachinar-Thall Road.

At least 17 bodies had been collected from different parts of the Upper Kurram and were shifted to a government hospital in Parachinar. Local people said that rival groups abducted and killed each other’s people.