Pak sectarian clashes leave dozens dead
Ap, Peshawar
Gunfights erupted again yesterday in villages near the Afghan border where clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims have killed at least 55 people over the past week, an official said. A local lawmaker said the sectarian fighting was likely the worst ever in the Kurram tribal region, and that nearly 100 people may have died so far. Rival groups clashed in two villages near the curfew-bound tribal town of Parachinar, leaving twelve people dead, security officials said. Residents said at least 40 houses were torched in Jalime and Char Dewar villages on the outskirts of Parachinar. Women and children fled to the nearby town of Alizai, they said. The government is moving security forces to the area, said Arbab Mohammed Arif Khan, secretary for law and order in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions. It also has sent a 40-member delegation of tribal elders to broker a peace.
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