People congregate to offer prayers during the funeral ceremony for victims who were killed in a tribal clash, at Kurram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on October 13, 2024. – AFP

Pakistani officials declared a seven-day truce on Sunday following days of intense sectarian gunfights in the country's northwest Kurram district, which have resulted in at least 82 deaths and 156 injuries. Kurram, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the border with Afghanistan, has a significant Shia population, and the communities have been in conflict for decades.

"Both sides have agreed to a seven-day ceasefire, during which they will also exchange prisoners and return bodies to one another," stated Muhammad Ali Saif, spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government. A second local official informed AFP that efforts were being made to locate and return up to 20 missing individuals from both sides.

The recent violence erupted on Thursday when two separate convoys of Shias, traveling under police escort, were ambushed, resulting in at least 43 deaths and triggering two days of gun battles. "The clashes and convoy attacks on November 21, 22, and 23 have led to 82 fatalities and 156 injuries," said a local administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Among the deceased, 16 were Sunni, while 66 belonged to the Shia community," he told AFP.

Approximately 300 families fled on Saturday as gunfights, involving both light and heavy weapons, continued into the night. No fresh casualties were reported on Sunday morning.

The mobile network across Kurram remains suspended, and traffic on the main highway is halted, according to the local administration official. Police have consistently struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.

The ceasefire agreement was reached after a delegation from the provincial government held talks with the Shia community on Saturday and met with the Sunni community on Sunday. A security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar informed AFP that the negotiators' helicopter came under fire as it arrived in the region, though no one was harmed.

Once a truce was agreed upon, "we can begin addressing the underlying issues," stated provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi earlier on Sunday. Last month, at least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in a sectarian clash in Kurram. Previous clashes in July and September resulted in dozens of deaths and only ended after a jirga, or tribal council, called for a ceasefire.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that 79 people were killed between July and October in sectarian clashes. Several hundred people protested against the violence on Friday in Pakistan's two largest cities, Karachi and Lahore.

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