Daily Times

The police have claimed that a ceasefire has been brokered by jirga leaders in several areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district where the death toll has reached 49 along with 184 injured due to days-long armed conflict between two tribal groups which has entered its 7th day.

The two groups have been fighting since last Wednesday when a gunman opened fire at a council negotiating a decades-long dispute over farmland, a local police official had said earlier.

Initially, the clashes broke out at Boshera, which later spread to other areas including Peewar, Tangi, Balishkhel, Khaar Killay, Maqbal, Kunj Alizai and Para Chamkani area, The News reported on Tuesday. A day earlier, the local authorities claimed to have managed to broker a ceasefire between the feuding tribes, the publication added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mahsud, on Sunday, said that members of the jirga along with the district administration had held successful talks with the warring tribes in Kurram and persuaded them to vacate their positions.

Commenting on the failed ceasefire reached earlier, the DC said that they had managed to broker a ceasefire in the Boshera area and deployed the personnel of the security forces at Balishkhel and Khar Kallay areas, however, a night raid was conducted from Khar Kallay in Balishkhel area after the fighting reignited

With reports suggesting the use of heavy weapons by the warring groups, the jirga members along with the local administration, the police and security forces have been making efforts to broker a ceasefire. The main Parachinar-Peshawar road has been closed to traffic for seven days due to the deadly clashes resulting in a complete halt of transportation of goods which has caused a shortage of food items and medicines in Kurram.