That was the situation assessed by crisis mapping organization ReliefWeb regarding the Kurram tribal district, where clashes between rival tribes have gone for a sixth day on Sunday, with the fighting spreading to several villages. These confrontations have claimed over 35 lives and over 150 people injured.
It can be traced back to a dispute involving the; Malikhel and Mangal tribes over a piece of land in Madaki Kali, Boshehra village. It has since then extended to different villages such as Malikhel, Dandar, Pewar, Tari Mangal, Muqbal, Kunj Alizai, Nastikot, Para Chamkani, Karman, Khar Kalai Sangina, and Balishkhel. Each of the parties has been employing everything starting from small arms to rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.
As far as the civil health facilities are concerned, the District Headquarters Hospital Parachinar has reportedly treated 31 dead bodies and around 150 injured inhabitants. Some of these very severely injured patients need to be transported to Peshawar or other cities for further surgeries and treatments. Other hospitals in Sadda also reportedly treated 130 injured people, but the figures have not been verified and it is feared that the actual death toll may be higher.
A major problem is made worse by the blocking of the main Parachinar road that connects the city to the rest of the country for nearly one week. The aforementioned has resulted in a critical scarcity of essential commodities such as drugs and fuel. The DHQ hospital in Parachinar is critically short of life-saving medicines and had to delay surgeries of critical patients.
Battles between the two sides have not yet been resolved by local administration with peace jirgas still in the process of trying to negotiate the two factions to stop fighting but to no avail and schools have remained closed in the region due to these bandits’ activities.
AFP report of the conflict shows that it started as a dispute over the land, it has degenerated into sectarian, a fight between Sunni Madagi and Shia Mali Khel tribes. This escalation was a result of a gunman, who fired at a council meeting that was supposed to address the issue on the land that was a root cause of religious bitterness.
A profile of the deceased reveals local officials describing the Shia Mali Khel tribe suffering the most – thirty-five of the total number are from this tribe. Despite the intervention efforts by the authorities in conjunction with the tribal chiefs to restore order to the carnage, the conflict persists in which the two parties unleashed automatic weapons and mortars, more especially around Parachinar.
People and authorities are demanding prompt measures from the governments to help restore free and safe living for residents of the affected regions.