At least 49 people have been killed and 115 injured in week-long
sectarian clashes in Pakistan tribal region, a senior security
official said on Thursday.
Arbab Muhammad Arif, Secretary of Security for Federally
Administered Tribal Areas, told a news conference that normalcy has
been restored in many parts of Kurram Agency, according to the
private news agency News Network International.
Tension has been brewed since April 1 when a group of people
took out a procession in Parachinar, the center of Kurram agency
and some 290 km west of Pakistani capital Islamabad, and chanted
slogans against their rivals.
Clashes started on April 6 between two religious groups in
Parachinar, and since then, curfew without intervals has been
imposed.
Authorities have sent troops to maintain peace there.
Arif said that a peace jirga or council of elders has started
dialogue with rival factions in Parachinar to broker a
ceasefire.
(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2007)
