Kuram, 22 November 2024: Gunmen have opened fire on convoys of Shia pilgrims in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 42 people, according to authorities in the restive province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Women and children were among the fatalities in the attacks in the Kurram tribal district on Thursday, police said on Friday.
Sectarian violence has escalated since July in Kurram, a region bordering Afghanistan, between Shia and Sunni tribes over land disputes.
Gunmen opened fire on two separate convoys of Shia pilgrims travelling with police escorts in Kurram. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Javedullah Mehsud, the deputy commissioner of Kurram, said the attacks took place when the convoys were on their way from the district headquarters of Parachinar to Peshawar.
Condemning the attacks, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, “The enemies of peace in the country have attacked a convoy of innocent citizens, an act that amounts to sheer brutality.
The attacks came days after at least 20 soldiers were killed in separate incidents in the province. In October, 11 people were killed in tribal clashes in Kurram.
Kurram has a long history of sectarian strife between Shia and Sunni groups. More than 2,000 people were killed in the deadliest period of violence between 2007 and 2011.
