Rival sectarian groups agree to seven-day ceasefire in Pakistan 

Pakistani officials have announced a seven-day truce between rival sectarian groups after days of clashes killed dozens of people in the northwest of the country.

The violence between the groups began on Thursday after gunmen attacked civilian convoys, killing at least 40 people, who mainly were Shia Muslims. In retaliation, residents in the area of Kurram targeted Sunni Muslims.

Local Shia and Sunni Muslims have engaged in sectarian rivalry for decades over a land dispute in the Kurram district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan.

Following the violence, Muhammad Ali Saif, spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government and a member of the mediation team, said on Sunday that both sides had agreed to a seven-day ceasefire.

“They will also exchange prisoners and return bodies to one another,” Saif said.

He added that the ceasefire announcement should stop more minor clashes reported in the district’s remote areas.

The mediation team flew into Parachinar, Kurram’s main city, on Saturday and met with Shia and Sunni leaders while the district was under a virtual curfew with armed groups roaming the streets in many villages.

Akhtar Hayat Gandpur, the police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and another member of the mediation team said Shia leaders were calling for the immediate arrest of those involved in attacking civilian vehicles as well as compensation for the victims.

The Pakistani government has yet to name who the attackers were publicly, and no one has claimed responsibility.

Earlier on Sunday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said that once a truce is agreed upon, “we can begin addressing the underlying issues”.

Last month, at least 16 people were killed in Kurram, including three women and two children, due to clashes between the two armed groups.

Police have struggled to control the violence in the area, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.

But the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people were killed between July and October in sectarian violence.

Fighting in July and September only ended following a tribal council calling for a ceasefire.

On Friday, several hundred people demonstrated against the violence in Karachi and Lahore.