World News | Warring Tribes in Northwest Pakistan Agree to Cease-fire After Bloodshed

Peshawar, Nov 24 (AP) Shiite and Sunni Muslim tribes in Pakistan's northwest have agreed to a cease-fire, a government spokesman said on Sunday, days after 42 Shiites were killed in an ambush.

The attack on the convoy last Thursday in Kurram district triggered retaliatory attacks and rampages that killed dozens more people from both communities.

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A spokesperson for the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Muhammad Ali Saif, said the two communities agreed to a seven-day cease-fire after a government delegation held talks with Sunni and Shiite elders.

“The parties also agreed to exchange prisoners and return the bodies of the deceased,” he said. The prisoners include women.

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Shiite Muslims make up about 15 per cent of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan. Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram.

Although the area has a history of sectarian conflict, with militant groups previously targeting the Shiite minority, the current violence is connected to a land dispute.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for Thursday's convoy attack. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)