The death toll from two sectarian attacks in northwest Pakistan’s Kurram district has risen to 43, officials confirmed on Friday, as authorities imposed a curfew and suspended mobile services in the tense region.
Gunmen targeted two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghanistan border, an area with a history of sectarian violence.
A senior administration official, Javed Ullah Mehsud, confirmed the updated death toll, noting that the victims included seven women and three children, just as he also added that 16 people were injured, 11 of whom are in critical condition.
The death toll from two sectarian attacks in northwest Pakistan’s Kurram district has risen to 43, officials confirmed on Friday, as authorities imposed a curfew and suspended mobile services in the tense region.
Gunmen targeted two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghanistan border, an area with a history of sectarian violence.
Javed Ullah Mehsud, a senior administration official, confirmed the updated death toll, noting that the victims included seven women and three children. He added that 16 people were injured, 11 of whom are in critical condition.
A senior police officer corroborated the death toll, highlighting the devastating impact of the attacks.
In response, authorities imposed a curfew and shut down mobile signals across the district, describing the situation as “extremely tense.”
Residents of Parachinar, the district’s main town, held a sit-in protest to demand justice and enhanced security measures.
“A curfew has been imposed on the main road connecting Upper and Lower Kurram, and the bazaar remains completely closed, with all traffic suspended,” a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.
Kurram district has experienced renewed clashes between Sunni and Shiite Muslim tribes in recent months.
Previous outbreaks in July and September resulted in dozens of deaths and were quelled only after tribal councils, or jirgas, brokered ceasefires.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the attacks, attributing the violence to government inaction.
