PARACHINAR, Nov 18: Security forces used Cobra helicopters on Sunday in a bid to end sectarian clashes which have left 80 people dead and scores other injured in Parachinar in three days.

The ISPR said that 11 soldiers had been killed and 32 others injured since Friday.

Officials said that reports of riots had also been received from Sadda, Balishkhel, Tangai and Jilamai areas of Lower Kurram where rival groups were using heavy weapons.

Doctors said that 150 of the injured were in a government hospital in Parachinar and 25 were in private health centres. They said 17 bodies had been lying in the hospital for three days. The hospital has no proper morgue and the stench fills the air.

A jirga of elders from Hangu and Orakzai Agency is likely to initiate efforts to broker a ceasefire. The government has suspended the agency’s political agent, Dr Fakhre Alam.

Two Cobra helicopters strafed combatants’ positions in and around Parachinar. Troops found it difficult to move into the riot-hit localities.

Several shops caught fire when helicopters attacked a market with rockets.

Officials said a convoy had been attacked near Sadda, killing three soldiers.

APP adds: ISPR Director-General Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad said that army troops and personnel of the Frontier Corps had been deployed and a curfew had been imposed in the agency.