Warring tribes in northwest Pakistan agree to a ceasefire after bloodshed

Shiite Muslims chant slogans to condemn the killing of Shiite Muslims by gunmen in an ambush in Kurram district, during a demonstration in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -

Shiite and Sunni Muslim tribes in Pakistan’s northwest have agreed to a ceasefire, a government spokesman said Sunday, days after 42 Shiites were killed in an ambush.

The attack on the convoy last Thursday in Kurram district triggered retaliatory attacks and rampages that killed dozens more people from both communities.

A spokesperson for the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Muhammad Ali Saif, said the two communities agreed to a seven-day ceasefire after a government delegation held talks with Sunni and Shiite elders.

“The parties also agreed to exchange prisoners and return the bodies of the deceased,” he said.

The prisoners include women. Shiite Muslims make up about 15 per cent of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan. Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram.

Although the area has a history of sectarian conflict, with militant groups previously targeting the Shiite minority, the current violence is connected to a land dispute.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s convoy attack.