Pakistan sectarian violence kills 32, injures 47 amid ongoing Sunni-Shiite clashes

Retaliating for the killing of Shiite Muslims on Thursday, Shiite Muslims on Friday attacked businesses and homes owned by Sunni Muslims

Reading Time:2 minutes

Shiite Muslims during a protest march against the sectarian attacks in Kurram district in Parachinar, the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Lahore on Friday. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:20pm, 23 Nov 2024Updated: 4:01pm, 24 Nov 2024

At least 32 people were killed and 47 wounded in sectarian clashes in northwest Pakistan, an official said on Saturday, two days after attacks on Shiite passenger convoys killed 43.

Sporadic fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan has killed around 150 over the past months.

“Fighting between Shiite and Sunni communities continues at multiple locations. According to the latest reports, 32 people have been killed which include 14 Sunnis and 18 Shiites,” a senior administrative official said on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, gunmen opened fire on two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims travelling with a police escort in Kurram, killing 43 and leaving 11 in “critical condition”, officials said.

In retaliation, Shiite Muslims on Friday evening attacked several Sunni businesses in the Kurram district, once a semi-autonomous region, where sectarian violence has resulted in the deaths of hundreds over the years.

Pakistani Shiite Muslims shout slogans during a protest against the attack on a passenger vehicles that killed dozens of people in Kurram, in Peshawar, Pakistan. Photo: EPA-EFE

“Around 7pm, a group of enraged Shiite individuals attacked the Sunni-dominated Bagan Bazaar,” a senior police officer stationed in Kurram said.