Ceasefire reached in Pakistan's Kurram after toll in clashes climbs to 133

Peshawar, Dec 2 (PTI) A ceasefire agreement has been reached between two warring tribes in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after 133 people were killed and 177 injured in the 11 days of clashes between them in the volatile Kurram district, an official said on Monday.
     Peace has been established in the restive Kurram district, an official told a provincial cabinet meeting headed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
     The official said authorities were working to ensure the dignified return of people displaced due to the sectarian violence.
     The clashes between Alizai and Bagan tribes in the district started on November 22, after an attack on a convoy of passenger vans near Parachinar in which 47 people were killed a day earlier.
     Several passengers who had sustained grave injuries succumbed later, raising the toll in the convoy killing to 57.
     The death toll from the violence surged to 133, the official told the meeting.
     Gandapur on Sunday emphasised the need for establishing peace in the area and ordered authorities to demolish dugouts of rival tribes and seize their weapons.
     The provincial chief executive issued the directives during a grand jirga attended by elders of the rival tribes in Kohat district.
     The district administration finally succeeded in arranging a lasting ceasefire on Sunday between two warring tribes engaged in a lethal gunfight, Mehsud said.
     The jirga (council of the tribal leaders) spoke to elders to reopen roads and sign a peace agreement, the official said.
     Armed tribesmen were removed from the firing posts while police and forces have been deployed in the region, he said.
     The Kurram region has been facing a communication blackout, with mobile and internet services suspended and educational institutions closed.
     The closure of the main highway has not only disrupted local transportation but also caused a complete suspension of trade with Afghanistan, particularly at the Kharlachi border.
     Previous efforts to mediate peace, including a seven-day and ten-day truce brokered by provincial officials in November, have failed to hold.
     A high-powered delegation, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry and IGP Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, had also negotiated a ceasefire last weekend, but violence resumed shortly afterwards.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)