KOHAT, March 30: The rescue team on Sunday recovered sixteen decomposed bodies from the Alotang area of Kachai, which remained a battleground for six days during fighting between rival religious groups.

The bodies were shifted to the basic health unit Usterzai for postmortem after which they were handed over to relatives for burial. They had died four days back when a mortar, fired reportedly from Misthi area, exploded at a hilltop post, established by the Kachai people to retaliate firing from the rival side.

According to officials and local elders, 25 dead bodies were found during a two-day rescue operation, carried out in Mir Asghar Mela, Landi Kachai, Essakhel and Musakhel. The total death toll from both sides were said to be 71.

The conflict between the tribes of Misthi (Orakzai agency) and Kachai (Kohat) started when some criminal groups from both sides started firing at each other outside the Frontier Constabulary Fort, where a jirga was in progress to resolve the accidental death of a woman during firing on the occasion of Nauroz.